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Hot Tamale Trail
Southern Foodways Alliance ^ | Undated | Amy Evans Streeter, SFA Oral Historian

Posted on 12/29/2013 4:17:15 PM PST by wizkid

In Latin America, hot tamales are as ubiquitous as the sandwich. This holds true in, of all places, the Mississippi Delta. Better known for its association with cotton and catfish, the Mississippi Delta has a fascinating relationship with tamales. In restaurants, on street corners, and in kitchens throughout the Delta, this very old and time-consuming culinary tradition remains vibrant. But how and when were hot tamales introduced to what has been called “the most Southern place on earth”? And why have they stayed? There are as many answers to those questions as there are tamale recipes. Oral history interviews with tamale makers and vendors in the Delta today offer us some answers. They reveal the various ways in which tamale recipes have been acquired and how they have evolved, helping to explain the persistence of hot tamales in the Mississippi Delta.

(Excerpt) Read more at southernfoodways.org ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food
KEYWORDS: delta; dixie; south; tamale
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To: Osage Orange
You've got that straight about El Rio Verde. Where else can you get decent ceviche in North-Eastern Oklahoma? After suffering through Tex Mex hell for several years, I finally found this Oasis in Tulsa. Here are some snaps of my first meal there:

Note: There is nothing wrong with Tex Mex food but sometimes it is nice to have real (or at least something that tries to be more authentic)Mexican food.

The signature El Rio Verde Wet Burrito



Tortilla Soup



Taco Salad



Pièce de résistance - Shrimp Cocktail



My favorite is the posole and menudo but they only have them on certain days and you have to get there early before they run out. You can really tell a good Mexican place by their soups. Unfortunately, I have no snaps of them.

Super sketchy area though. It looks like a nuclear bomb went off and the flesh eating zombies are about to swarm. This street view does not do it justice. You need to visit in the Winter when the trees look dead for the full Walking Dead effect:

El Rio Verde - Street View
61 posted on 12/29/2013 9:44:42 PM PST by wizkid
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To: Rebelbase
Yes, scoring a good tamale sometime can resemble a dope deal. There is a big difference though: Street tamales can sometimes be the best.

Just a few weeks ago, I was walking out of the local meat market and a guy walked up and asked if I wanted to score some tamales. He had me pegged for a tamale addict all right. Anyway, they were raising money for a Mexican charity and they had all the mothers making them so they were excellent. I respect charities that raise money by doing something productive other than simply begging.

Whenever I buy food off the street, it reminds me of my favorite BBQ in Old Town Katy Texas, Midway BBQ. It was a real hoot: Part market, part BBQ, part deer processor. Here is a street view of the sign (Yes, the entrance has a full sized stag mounted over it):



Note: Sadly, it appears that the actual BBQ has since moved to bigger and fancier digs down the street. Bet they don't have that 29.99 take out family meal deal anymore either.

In any case, some black ladies used to hang out front selling baked goods to raise money for their church. One things for sure, there ain't nothing better than a Southern church bake sale. You see one and you had best slam on the brakes, hang a huey and start buying up the goods. For just a few bucks, I could score all the classics: Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Coconut Cake, Pecan Pies. The thing that I most loved was the cookies. It was really the first time that I ever remembered eating a classic tea cake (cookie):

Deep Dish South - Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

The evolution and endurance of our southern tea cake is actually a rather remarkable story in itself really. The simple and unassuming cookies that we know, likely evolved from an English tea cake, according to most southern food historians. Arriving in our country probably sometime in the 1700s, it was typically served up at afternoon or high tea in the homes of the wealthy planters, and likely a version of the slightly sweet, light yeast bun, containing currants and other dried fruits.

It wasn't long before little tea cakes found their way into the lives of poor southerners, who adopted them as our own and made them more suitable to our basic, affordable pantry ingredients - and our love for a much sweeter taste. One of earliest recorded recipes for an American version of tea cakes is found in the cookbook, American Frugal Housewife, published in the 1830s. Here is what they look like:




Southerners do like things a tad sweet though. The deeper you get in the South, the sweeter they get. Here is the Creole/Cajun style glazed Tea Cake:


62 posted on 12/29/2013 10:59:10 PM PST by wizkid
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To: sheana

“Christmas Eve. Every year I do a tamale, rice, beans, and drinks feed for family and friends. We usually have between 30-50 people show up.”

Whew! Hope your feast is held outside! :)


63 posted on 12/30/2013 3:46:28 AM PST by snoringbear (E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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To: Nifster

Not me, I have real homemade tamales in the freezer left over from Christmas. I eat them all the time. My dog likes them too.


64 posted on 12/30/2013 6:10:59 AM PST by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty and Let the the Stupid AmericanTaxpayer foot the bill !)
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To: chicagolady

Oh I eat mine all the time too…. still one of the best quick meals I can think of (after all the making is over of course)


65 posted on 12/30/2013 6:47:16 AM PST by Nifster
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To: virgil283

I know you’re right about tamales having to be spicy, but man...I love Cuban food..no it isn’t hot and spicy, rather they tend to use garlic and olive oil...like Italian food ina way.


66 posted on 12/30/2013 4:30:01 PM PST by pallmallman (Q)
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To: pallmallman

Mexican and Cuban foods are Godly (no irreverence intended).


67 posted on 12/30/2013 4:31:59 PM PST by pallmallman (Q)
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To: pallmallman
I love Cuban food....you are making me hungry...We have a small place here that has authentic Cuban food , well all the Cuban refugees eat there. The Cuban sandwich is a favorite and something called 'dirty britches' ?....HA
68 posted on 12/30/2013 6:18:35 PM PST by virgil283 (When the sun spins, the cross appears, and the skies burn red)
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To: wizkid
HA!!

Yeah..my daughter and her boyfriend took me there a few years ago...

Didn't like the area all that much..Hehe!! But the food was great!! Service was great!!

And I've been back many times.

FRegards!!

69 posted on 12/31/2013 4:56:13 PM PST by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: wizkid

Good post


70 posted on 12/31/2013 5:00:19 PM PST by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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