LA TAMALADA

The tamalada is a social event where friends and family gather to prepare tamales. It is a casual gathering where people come together to share resources, combining efforts to prepare a labor intensive food (Knepp 2010). Family and friends are free to come and go throughout the day, and some who come, only do so for the conversation and sense of community. It is an event where through participation, knowledge and traditions are passed between generations. Although the purpose of the event is to prepare tamales, the tamalada represents more than food preparation, it creates a space and time to celebrate family and heritage.

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Tamaladas tend to vary between families, but a few elements are shared that define the tamalada. Tamaladas must have at least two people, with less than two people, it becomes a meal, not a social event (Knepp 2010). The main purpose of the tamalada is tamale preparation, though the gathering also serves as a platform to share culture, transfer knowledge, and celebrate family and friends. Tamale types vary between families, but all start with a dough made from field corn that has been soaked in lime (calcium hydroxide) and ground into a paste, before being mixed with fat. The dough is spread onto a wrapper, filled, wrapped, and steamed. It is common to make large quantities of tamales to be eaten during a celebratory event, so the end product is most often used to serve at the event. Extra tamales are usually served and shared between participants at the end of the tamalada.

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Made from a corn based dough that is filled, wrapped and steamed, tamales come in many varieties, and differ with each family. The changes that occur during the handing down of the tradition demonstrates how traditions are reinvented by new generations, making past traditions  meaningful in the present. (Handler and Linnekin 1984). The corn based dough, once hand-ground, may prove to be too much work for current generations and instead the dough may be purchased pre-mixed (Knepp 2010). Lard, once the choice fat, is often substituted with healthier oils. Although in the past making a filling from the head of a pig was not unusual, this practice is quickly being replace with a pork roast. As traditions are shared between generations, each generations holds on to what is meaningful to them, and leaves behind what is not. Although we continue to identify with our past through traditions, the authenticity of the tradition becomes defined by the present (Handler and Linnekin 1984).