Alas, since moving north nine years ago, I have been unable to locate a source of truly authentic and wonderful tamales. I don't mean the restaurant kind... I mean the kind that Abuela makes at home and wraps in tinfoil and brings to you as a gift. When I taught school in Paradise, Texas (near Decatur, a little north of Fort Worth), I taught a great many children whose parents were migrant workers who spoke no English at all. I was the only teacher who could talk to them, so I ended up spending a lot of time with them, and in return I got to participate in lots of very cool family stuff. I even got to sit at a place of honor at their daughter's Quinceañeras (fifteenth birthday party) and shared in the cabrito (goat) that they had cooked in a hole in the yard. They showed me how to make flour tortillas by hand, as well as frijoles and arroz. And they often brought me gifts of yummy food at school.
Even after I wasn't teaching anymore, we still had connections that could get us some homemade tamales whenever we wanted some.
Now I have some Hispanic students again. I think I'll ask around and see if anyone's got a good source for them. Thing is, up here the immigrants are not just Mexicans. There's a pretty significant percentage of Guatemalans and Salvadorans as well, and they have their own unique kinds of dishes. I like them fine, but there's something comforting about unwrapping some lovely warm tamales.
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