12.25- Belgian Beer & Tamalada

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Belgian beers help fuel a late-night "Tamalada"

Today my brother, a couple of friends and I held a small, late-night "tamalada" to assemble holiday tamales.

Masa dough was spread on corn husks, shredded pork or bean and jalapeno filling was added to the center, the husks rolled to cover the filling with dough, and the completed tamales stacked in the steamer and steamed. Here is a neat painting of a tamalada by Carmen Lomas Garza (ours was on a slightly smaller scale.)

The above photo was taken during a break in the assembling, when my brother and I broke out some of the fine Belgian beers we had brought back to Oriental from DC.

Can't get these beers round here... Both beers are from the "Brasserie Dupont" brewery. The one on the left is named "Avec les Bons Voeux," a blonde or trippel, and on the right "Moinette," a brune or dubbel.

Ran out of masa dough (because ran out of pork lard) about 3:00 AM, and finished cooking the last of the tamales at about 5:00 AM. They mostly turned out purty darn good, if you ask me.

Happy Winter Festivities!

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