At a tamalada, the expectation is to contribute.
The reward is belonging, connection, and warm tamales right out of the steamer.
This isnt just a one-day affair.
Simply Recipes / Ericka Sanchez
A tamalada marks the start of the holiday season and is a harbinger of good things to come.
Its unique purpose is to make as many tamales as possible.
Even as a child, this systematic assembly line never felt like a chore.
Simply Recipes / Ericka Sanchez
The tubs were so big, I could easily jump into one for a bubble bath.
But these tubs were strictly used to clean and soak the corn husks for the tamales.
I eyed the tamales-making assembly line, and made sure we never ran out of clean, soaked husks.
Simply Recipes / Ericka Sanchez
One spread the masa as if she were laying bricks with cement, my tia criticized.
This labor of lovemundane and simple tasks that felt magical in the momenttook hours.
The kitchen buzzed with bursts of laughter and mumbled gossip followed by furtive giggles.
Children ran around the nativity set and slippers shuffled all around me.
Friendly arguments that were never settled.
Only then would we be rewarded with a hot tamale right out of the steamer.
I cannot elicit a more joyous and comforting memory than my familys tradition of making tamales together.
Sharing in the responsibilities gave me a sense of belonging and unyielding connection to my family.
Now I live in the United States and our tamaladas arent quite the same.
My grandmother passed away in 1989 and most family members stayed in Mexico.
Still, I prepare tamales for the holidays with the same pride and enthusiasm as my grandmother did.
My 14-year-old son, now the husk cleaner and soaker, takes his job as seriously as I did.
Some holidays, my kitchen bustles as it did back in Mexico.
Other years, its quieter.
But no matter the size of the crowd, our tradition of makinga lotof tamales and connections continues.
