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To begin our tasty travels, we searched on the phrase "tamale recipe." We clicked on the first result, a site titled The International Tamale Festival, and went straight to the "Definitions and Recipes" section. We learned that tamales consist of a filling (any combination of meat, cheese, or vegetables will do) covered with masa (a Mexican corn dough), wrapped inside a corn husk, and then steamed. The recipe on the site is rather lengthy because you must prepare three different elements -- the chili sauce, the pork, and the masa. Once you've prepared these, the tamale can be assembled and cooked. Judging from
this recipe, you'd need to set aside the better part of a day to have tamales for dinner. We wanted to find out if there was a simpler way to make a tamale so we went to the Yahoo! Cooking > Recipes category and headed straight for Recipe Source. We searched on the word "tamale," and after wading through some tamale pies, stumbled across the recipe for Tamales Nortenos. The author of this recipe describes the process as "a time-consuming, labor-intensive
effort." It seems there are many ways to make a tamale, but no way to cut down on the amount of work involved. So, if you're willing to spend the time, authentic homemade tamales could grace your dinner table. As for us, we'd rather pay a visit to the commercial Tamales category in Yahoo! and have homemade tamales delivered to our doorstep. Sure beats all that cooking! A final note: If you happen to be anywhere near Indio, California, on the 2nd or 3rd of December, the Annual Tamale Festival looks like a blast!
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