Tamales

At que ha nacido para tamal, del cielo le caen las hojas (“Leaves fall from heaven for the one born to be a tamal”).

—Proverb quoted by Josefina Velâzquez de León in Mexican Cook Book Devoted to the American Home

To “leaves” might be added “welcome” and “esteem,” for tamales have been linked with celebrations and solemn offerings since Aztec times. A Mexican was traditionally—many still are—marned, buried, christened, and feted to the accompaniment of tamales. They were ritually offered at every sacred feast of the Aztec calendar, together with versions of the Aztec corn gruel, atole. Today Christmas, Easter, and saints’ days are honored by those great Christian foods, tamales and atole. All these occasions are prefaced by tamal-making marathons for which every woman brings an ingredient—though only one person mixes the dough, because too many fingers in the pie are said to make it go sour.