Tamale territory: Wrapped in corn husks, meat-filled masa hunger busters are right at home in Arkansas

On the kitchen table of Osmar Garcia's home in Conway sits a bowl of pork tamales still in their corn husks.

"I hope you like them," says Osmar's mom, Tina, of Morrilton.

I peel away the corn husk and take a bite.

It's divine. The masa exterior is light, soft and smooth, not gritty or mealy like some tamales. The pork is nicely seasoned and each bite makes me look forward to the next.

"We like them like that," Garcia says. "But, normally, we make them more spicy."

Tamales and Arkansas go together like, oh, a masa wrap and slow-cooked meat. Mexican migrant workers brought them to the cotton fields of the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas in the early part of the 20th century and their fellow farmhands took note. They were portable, stayed warm and made for a hearty noontime repast.

Bluesman Robert Johnson even sang their praises in the 1936 song "They're Red Hot."

"The reality is, Delta tamales are Hispanic tamales three generations removed," says John T. Edge, food writer and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi. "The cultural roots are the same. What has changed are the ingredients, audience and makers."

Black residents of the Delta embraced the tamale, as did Italian immigrants, some of whom sold them out of carts and in restaurants, Edge says. Today, places like Pasquale's Tamales food truck in Helena-West Helena and Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales and Pies in Lake Village carry on the Delta tamale tradition.

"It was an adaptation across cultures," Edge says of the tamale evolution in the Delta. "It's not someone experimenting with tamales, but someone adapting them for their own purposes."

While Delta tamales nowadays are commonly stuffed with beef, Hispanic tamales are vessels for pork, chicken, cheese and even sweets, fruits and nuts. The Delta iteration is also more likely to be made of corn meal rather than corn flour (masa harina) and instead of being steamed in their corn husks, they are often simmered in a broth, Edge says.

Both are a far cry from the greasy canned tamales found in grocery stores that, smothered with equally greasy canned chili and topped with cheddar cheese, made up more than a few of my childhood suppers.

Tina Garcia, who immigrated to Morrilton with her husband and two sons in August 1998, learned how to make tamales from her mother and grandmother in Guadalajara, Mexico. The wooden press she is using to flatten her masa before placing it into the corn husk came from her grandmother.

The press makes the labor- and time-intensive tamale-making process a little easier, especially when she's making them on her own, she says. Spreading the masa onto the moist corn husk with a spoon, though, is fine, it just takes a little longer.

"Me and my brother grew up making tamales with her," Osmar says. He recently volunteered to make a few hundred tamales for a Knights of Columbus dinner at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Morrilton and got his mom to help.

"We started at 7 a.m. and it took until nearly 6 to finish," he says. "It's crazy how much time it took."

The shredded pork in the tamales Tina Garcia has made on this early October afternoon is placed on the dollop of masa and covered in a red sauce made of ancho peppers and spices before the husk is folded around it like a newspaper and then crimped at the bottom into a neat little package.

Not knowing if I prefer spicy food -- you know, hot tamales -- she has leaned toward the milder end of the heat spectrum, although she makes a fiery green sauce with serrano peppers and tomatillos.

"Those are my favorite," Osmar says.

She also has versions of tamales with cheese, chicken and fruit in her arsenal.

"With cheese, you can use bell peppers or jalapenos," she says. Fruity tamales with, for example, chopped pineapple or strawberries, are much easier, she says, as there is no sauce or meat to make.

And just as there are differences between Delta tamales and traditional tamales, different areas of Mexico have their own versions of the gloriously malleable treat.

"We're from the state of Jalisco," Osmar says. "In Oaxaca, a different state, the sauce they use is darker and sweeter."

"We don't like it dark," Tina adds.

"In another state, Guanajuato, they use a lot of fat," making for a thick masa, he says.

"We like it with more meat," Tina says.

And while the Garcias wrap their tamales in corn husks before steaming, some areas use banana leaves to cover them, and some wrappings resemble pocket-size square packages, while others, as with the Garcias' method, are more tubelike.

Tina Garcia says she likes to serve hers with shredded cabbage and topped with tomato salsa. Sour cream also makes a nice topping, she adds.

"Would you like another one," she asks.

"I sure would," I say.

Tina Garcia's Pork Tamales

Shredded pork (recipe follows)

1 batch ancho chile sauce (recipe follows)

1 batch masa (recipe follows)

1 (7-ounce) package corn husks, soaked in water about 90 minutes with stray strings removed

Take a large pinch from masa, about ¹/3 of a cup. If using a press, press flat and place at one end of opened corn husk and spread about three-quarters of the way up the husk and almost to the sides.

If using a spoon, spread from bottom and almost to the sides of husk and about three-quarters of the way to the top.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of meat onto masa then spread 1 tablespoon of sauce over meat. Fold each side of husk and masa over meat and then fold once from bottom over crease. Repeat with remaining husks, masa, meat and sauce.

Place in a steam basket, open end up, over boiling water in a large pot. Cover and steam for about 45 minutes.

Makes about 30 tamales.

Shredded Pork

4 pounds pork shoulder

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, quartered

Water

In a large pot combine meat, garlic and onion with enough water to cover. Boil pork about 3 hours or until very tender. Reserve 6 cups of the cooking liquid for masa. Shred meat with fork.

Ancho Chile Sauce

4 ancho chile peppers (see note)

4 cloves garlic

3 whole cloves

4 whole peppercorns

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 1/2 cups water

Salt to taste

In a saucepan, boil peppers until soft. Cut open and remove seeds. Combine peppers and other ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth.

Note: Anchos are dried poblano peppers.

Masa

1 pound lard

2 pounds instant masa harina (corn flour) such as Maseca

6 cups reserved water from pork, strained

1 tablespoon baking powder

Microwave lard for 45 seconds.

In a large bowl, pour in masa harina and make a well in the center. Add lard, liquid and baking powder. Mix with hands until it forms a smooth ball.

Food on 10/25/2017