Talking Tamales
Oh, this is right down my nerdy little alley. There is going to be a talk on “A Brief History of Tamales” on Thursday, November 19, 2009, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Reception to follow 7:00-7:30 p.m.) The speaker is Claudia Alarcón (she writes on food for the Austin Chronicle) and she’s going to reveal all sorts of cool tamale trivia, like, well, the ancient Maya and Aztecs had no pork tamales! No pork tamales for them! Pigs did not get to the New World until the Spanish lugged them over around 1520. So the Aztecs and Maya made do with armadillo and iguana tamales, probably had some turkey ones too. (I once ate an iguana tamale in Oaxaca about twenty years ago at a little tiny restaurant, more like somebody’s house, that specialized in indigenous Mexican cuisine. Tasted like reptilian chicken.) Anyway, Alarcon’s talk is free and open to the public, and it will take place at the ATT Education Room, Long Center for the Performing Arts, 701 W. Riverside Dr., in Austin.
(It’s sponsored by the Mexican Center, Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, College of Liberal Arts, at UT Austin. For more information please contact the Mexican Center mexctr@uts.cc.edu, or g.sanders@austin.utexas.edu. More talks are coming up in this three-part series.)
Claudia says:
Yes Pat, reptilian chicken is pretty much an accurate description of the taste of iguana…I also had iguana tamales in Oaxaca ages ago, now they are more rare (as are iguanas). Mine had a whole iguana egg cooked inside. It was an odd texture, to say the least!
Thanks for the Blog Blurb!
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ellie says:
This is why Texas is so cool. Where else can you expect to attend a seminar on tamales? Wish I could be there. Can you report back on highlights.
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Pat Sharpe says:
Good idea, Ellie. Although I just found out I’m not going to be in Austin that day (drat! I had to schedule a trip for a story), I will try to get somebody to attend and post on it. Pat
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Patrice says:
You need to check out The Tamale King on Twin City Highway/Spurlock road in Nederland, TX – YUMMY
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Kathleen says:
Ha! I read the title and thought it would be a tamale recipe with beans in them. (Is that rude?) The talk sounds like fun. Will the reception include a tasting of tamales?
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Pat Sharpe says:
The talk was Nov. 19, but there will be others in the series. They sound interesting too–see information in original post! Pat
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Robin says:
There’s a place in Nederland, TX that makes excellent tamales, it’s called The Tamale King. It’s a walk-in, drive-thru, (no sit down) restaurant serving lunches and light dinners to-go. But the house specialty is the tamales – no doubt! I come from far west Texas, El Paso, and The Tamale King has sold me. You should really try it out. It’s excellent!
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