Tamales

First hallmark of the holiday season here: tamales. Somewhere around the start of december people hit the local markets in search of cornmeal, pork, lard, chicken, peas, rice, and banana leaves... well, not exactly banana leaves but something like that. You season the cornmeal, make little cakes, stuff them with your favorite meat combination, put in a prune and a couple raisins, and maybe an olive, and wrap them up in the leaves. Boil for a couple hours, and here's what you end up with.

When do you eat it? Any time. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee break... it's all good.

There's about 50 of them sitting in the refrigerator right now. And I'm almost sure that by the 25th, there's not going to be any left.

Are they something like mexican tamales? Sort of. Only in Mexico they wrap them in corn husks and use different fillings. Over there you can find anything from beef to berries inside. Over here we only fill with beef, chicken or pork... and maybe beans, but no berries.