Holiday Foods from the Homeland: The Savory Side of a Mexican Classic
Amyre Makupson, William Maddox
December 13, 2018
Mario, the head chef at Tzango, is originally from Mexico. He grew up in the area outside of Mexico City, where they grow the agave for tequila.
Q: Let’s talk about your holiday cultural traditions! Part of the festivities include food and one of the main dishes are tamales, right?
A: Correct. We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. On Christmas is when we do the turkey, so [we serve] the turkey along with the tamales.
Tamales are one of the things people like to show off because it is an item that’s very tasty. It’s a small bundle, but it could also feed a lot of people.
People try to make them as special as they can so everybody can show their special recipe that was passed on from their parents and great-grandparents.
In this instance, we’re going to use shredded chicken, banana leaves and then precooked masa (corn dough) with mole.
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