Reflecting on my Tamales Journey

For my Making Tamales posts, I wanted to keep them pretty descriptive because I wanted to save the reflecting for this post. Now, however, I wanted to share my feelings after trying my first homemade tamal. I was blown away after biting into my first tamal because I was so afraid that I had misfolded them or that my filling was too wet and I was going to end up with soggy tamales. However, I was stunned at how good it tasted (and yes, I most definitely danced around my kitchen :)). I am a strong believer in food tasting better when I make it myself, so not to discredit Juannita’s or La Poblana, but I think my tamales taste the best out the ones I have tried. Of course, Juannita’s and La Poblana have been making tamales for a much longer time and I am probably just biased, but the ratio of meat to dough was exactly what I wanted (I like them really meaty).

Also, from my research on tamales, there are so many different varieties, varying from region to region, family to family, and a lot of those differences exist due to personal taste. Saying that, I think I have come to realize, through this project, how something like tamales that unites many Latina/o/x cultures can have so many different varieties. At their core, Latina/o/x cultures share many of the same cultural values and traditions, but they are just as different as all of the tamales I have read about and tasted. Each Latina/o/x person in the United States and abroad has a different set of values, traditions, recipes, etc.. So, while learning about different Latina/o/x experiences in the United States is beneficial, those experiences and many of the experiences we have learned about in this class are so unique and individual that they cannot be used to define an entire group of people.

I definitely value and appreciate all of the experiences I have learned about in this course and in this project, but they cannot be used as assumptions about other Latina/o/x individuals. Just because the tamales I made are my favorite I have tried (I have only tried 3 different tamales in my life, though), does not mean they are the best or the right way to make a tamal. So, I think this project has shown me how much diversity there can be for something that is pretty much universally found throughout the Latina/o/x cultures we have studied.

In the future, I think I will definitely be more respectful of the uniqueness of each Latina/o/x experience and try not to make assumptions about someone based off of someone else’s experience.

Also, I plan to continue making tamales and trying different varieties (maybe I will aim to try a tamal anytime I travel :)). Of course, next time I make tamales, I will be involving my whole family and maybe some friends, because if I learned anything, it is that tamal-making is not a one or two person process. So, in the future, I will be planning an epic tamalada!