Día de la Candelaria, Tamales

While staying in Mexico for winter 2024, we got the opportunity to reconnect with friends from back home and friends from Mexico. Our friends Napo and Triny, who own a Horse Ranch just outside of Chapala, were able to ride with and spend time at the ranch again. We also got opportunities to experience part of the Mexican culture neither of us expect to see.

Our first weekend in San Antonio, we went for drinks and lunch with friends which turned into an hour 8 afternoon of catching up, laughs, walking the area and lots of beverages. They showed us other local bars, restaurants and bakeries to try. We ended up stopping at a bakery and picking up a few snacks and bringing home half of a Rosca de Reyes (Wreath of the Kings cake).

Baby Christ in the wreath cake.

We were told there "could be” a plastic baby Christ in the cake somewhere.  The following evening we hosted our friends Paul and Rhonda at our place for dinner, where for dessert we served the wreath cake. Rhonda bit into her slice and found the plastic baby Christ. This was the start to our soon to be tamale making day with Triny.

Afterwards I ended up down the internet rabbit hole, doing a bit of research to try to understand the what and why of the wreath cake with a plastic baby Christ.

The Three Kings Holiday or Die de Reyes is the closing out to the Holiday season in Mexico. Traditionally this is when the gifts of toys were given to children to commemorate the Three Kings or wisemen visiting baby Christ. This day is also known as Epiphany in the Christian world.

Families get together and share the Rosca de Reyes or Wreath of the Kings, it's a traditional sweet bread and a plastic "baby Christ" is baked into it.

Photo Credit: V. Gray

When sharing this cake with your family or friends, you cut your own slice. Whoever cuts into the cake for their slice and receives the plastic baby Christ is now in charge of making tamales to give out to family and friends on February 2 on Dia de le Candelaria (Presentation of the Lord). This is also said to be the day that Mary and Joseph presented the baby Christ to the priest for the first time.

Now I was up to speed! The next step, how the heck do we Canadian's make tamales?We had no clue.  We met for a group ride during the week out at the ranch with Triny. Rhonda and I told Triny, that Rhonda had gotten the baby Christ, she laughed and said she had too. This could not have been more perfect (for us). We started asking Triny about the tamale making, how to do it, how long it would take and so on. When Triny graciously invited our group of (Laura, Rhonda and myself) to join her in making tamales at her house.

Our girls day was planned! Triny was telling me the night before to come in the afternoon, after the butter was washed, the dough would be rested and the stew would be simmered. We would not over crowd the apartment and the four of us (my Mother in law Ellen joined us) would help wrap and steam the tamales. This turned into an absolute riot of an afternoon, where I personally did not take any pictures, but was saved by Rhonda showing up with her big camera and Ellen taking lots of pictures.

Our tamale making afternoon started out with us stopping to pick up Tequila and mix before going into the Chapala neighbourhoods up the mountain. Triny had sent her location with “share my location”, which sent us one road over from where she actually lives. We had to call her saying we were lost, out came Alexa (Triny's youngest daughter) to us the apartment was the next road over. Of course, this was after we had knocked on a neighbours door asking for Triny and were told no she doesn't live here.

When we arrived at Triny's we found her washing butter. I honestly thought this was a bad google translate from the night before, I was very wrong. Some farmers use pork rinds in their butter, some people choose to wash their butter for tamales and some do not to clean the butter of the rinds. Triny told us that there is a taste difference and this is how she prefers to make her tamales, she was an hour and a bit into washing her butter with ice when we arrived.

We made tequilas, about a half an hour later the butter was done being washed and the corn dough was being mixed in. This is when we came into play, shredding meat (chicken, pork and ribs) adding it into sauces and stewing the meat.

Rhonda shredding meat.

Tiny & Alexa making sauces for the meat.

Triny & I stewing meat.

Rhonda sneaking a taste.

Photo Credit: Rhonda Morley Causton, Ellen Cowie & Laura Colby

Once the meat was done stewing, we started an assembly line for putting the tamales together. What a mess! Not one of us stayed clean but the laughter that filled the room, it was a gut busting time. You start with taking the corn husks out of water (they had been soaking for a few hours), then you put a thin layer of dough on the corn husk, add in some meat, fold in the sides then the end and that is an assembled tamale!

Stewed meat, corn husks & corn dough.

Photo Credit: Laura Colby

This is when everything broke loose, we were good at assembling for the first 25 or so tamales. Then the dough was making its way onto people's faces and arms.

Laura, myself, Triny & Rhonda starting tamales.

Laura, Triny, myself & Ellen making tamales.

Photo Credit: Ellen Cowie & Rhonda Morley Causton

I have no idea what provoked this wild behaviour, maybe it was the girls being girls, maybe it was the tequila. Nonetheless it was so much!

Dough war! Rhonda, Ellen, Laura, Triny, myself & Alexa.

Photo Credit: Rhonda Morley Causton

As we finished making the tamales, Alexa was adding them into the pot to steam. As you can see, Alexa had to stand on a chair to put the tamale's in the pot.

Alexa putting tamale's in the put with the tunes pumping.

Photo Credit: Laura Colby

The tamales took 2 hours to cook, we sat down giggling and chatting about life with tequila in hand. Triny's two older children came home, Diana and Victor. As we sat chatting, Triny pulled out a game she called Lotto which is similar to bingo.

Lotto game.

Photo Credit: V. Gray

You can add or remove the rocks/seeds as the cards are called. You can bet on the game too. We turned it into a hilarious learning activity and kept repeating the words after Alexa. We were trying to say the words properly, but tequila impaired us a bit . After a few rounds of lotto, the tamale's were ready!

Final product! Green chicken, pork & rib tamales.

Photo Credit: V. Gray

These were the best tamale's I have ever had! So much flavour and the right amount of dough and meat ratio. We have had other ones from road stalls that were good but not THIS good. To top off the evening, Triny sent each of us home with a minimum of six tamale's for all the boys. Which all the boys were happy to receive.

I approve tamale making & tequila

Making tamale's is a lot of work and we came in half way through. This would be a lot for one person but sharing it between six people made the afternoon fly by and the process so much fun.

If you ever get the opportunity to go make tamales or any Mexican cooking while in Mexico, I would highly recommend you go. Getting to learn first hand how to do this was an experience I will personally never forget.The process gave me new appreciation for the tamale man in our neighbourhood.

Cheers!

Photo Credit: Laura Colby

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram @vikki.gray **