Customer Reviews

Tamales

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. I have made several of the recipes in this book and all have turned out excellent. The arroz con pollo recipe is my personal favorite, my friends and family agree! This is not a "quick" cookbook, however, many of the recipes I have tried require several hours. Many recipes require roasting peppers, rehydrating dried chiles, and chopping lots of veggies. Fortunately most of the work is prep work, towards the end of the recipe it's "put the skillet in the oven and bake for 40 minutes" or "steam the tamales for 25 minutes" which means if you time it right, you still have time to get ready for the guests to arrive after all the messy stuff is done, while the meal is still cooking. Also, if you want, prepare the tamales and put 'em in the fridge, a great idea if you have several hours before the guests arrive. And don't worry if you can't find dried corn husks or banana leaves, plastic wrap works fine in their place (they suggest this in the intro, as well as a dozen other items that can make these recipes easier). If you like Mexican food, and like spending a few hours in the kitchen just so your guests say "this is the best food I have ever had!" then this is a book you want to take a look at.

TAMALES
By Mark Miller, Stephan Pyles, and John Sedlar with John Harrison
Photographer: Lois Ellen Frank

If you are not Latino or never lived in the southwest, chances are your first tamale was a strange little package, wrapped and tied as a bundle inside an early TV dinner. Further, it was probably pale red, mushy and you liked the nearby enchilada better.

Tamales become gourmet, fusion cuisine in this book, and your ideas for more can be endless. Basically think of a tamale as a house in structure. It has its foundation, living rooms and finally the roof. With tamales the foundation is a corn husk wrapper lined with masa dough, the living area is the filling and the roof a tantalizing sauce. Tamales can be vegetarian, seafood, poultry, any meat or desserts, depending on ingredients. Tamales, the lined corn husk wrapped around and filling and cooked over steam.

The masa base for the dough is large-kernel corn which looks like hominy. It is dried, cooked in limewater, drained, dried again and ground into flour. You can also purchase it, then proceed with one of the book's intriguing flavored masa dough recipes. Some variations include:

Roasted Corn Tamale Masa Dough
Wild Mushroom-Chipotle Tamale Massa Dough
Red Thai Curry Tamale Massa Dough
Habanero-Blackened Tomato Tamale Massa Dough
plus many more.

Just a few of the filling and sauce recipes are:

Wild Mushroom and White Truffle Tamales
Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Tamales with Olive Oil and Saffron
Salmon Tamales with Red Pepper Masa and Mole Amarillo
Shrimp Tamales with Ranchero Sauce
Clam Tamales with Fennel and Chayote-Melon Salsa
Chicken Tamales with Mole Poblano
Duck Tamales with Pineapple and Chipotle
Bittersweet Chocolate Tamales with Anchos, Prunes and Raisins (one of several dessert tamales)

Apt headnotes identify newly-introduced ingredients and clarify each recipe's mission. Helpful, too, is the book's section, Basic Recipes, Sauces, and Techniques. In it they cover such steps as blackening tomatoes, tomatillos, chiles, and onions. It also goes into how to process chiles, toast herbs and spices and make delicious stocks.

I searched for recipes to perfect my tamales and came up with little success until i stumbled upon this book. Getting masa to have both a good flavor and texture can be tricky, but i've been successful on both levels with the various masa dough recipes. This book goes beyond the traditional tamale by creating some of the most innovative and flavorful recipes - - sauces included! Mark Miller has succeeded in yet another fabulous cookbook!

Here are three superb chefs who know their stuff about tamales, even going together to Oaxaca to learn firsthand the traditions handed down over three thousand years of tamale practice.

It's all here, from masa, wrappers, steaming techniques, then recipes, glorious recipes using fowl, seafood, even wonderful dessert tamales.

Just a few is all that I've been able to attempt. It does take effort and devoted time to do these correctly, especially for those who have not attempted such before. But as others profess, the results are worth it! One that particularly grabbed my tastebud attention was Escargot Forestiere made with snails, ham, mushrooms, with flavorful Merlot Veal stock. This turned out absolutely unbelievable, reminding me somewhat of Esgargot Under Pastry, which is one of my favorites. Being the exploring non-traditionalist that I am when first attempting something, I turned to an exotic dessert tamale also: Arborio Rice-Dried Fruit Pudding Tamales with Rum Cream. It was rich and outstanding, the perfect finale dish for any who enjoy Rice Pudding.

This is truly a great resource to play with and explore different flavor combos, what cooking is about and when it becomes fun. This cookbook is one of those that inspires going off it one's own culinary directions, having seen what these three Tamale Masters do.

There is great source section and even dinner plate source info if desired.

This is great one-dish specialty cookbook from three great chefs! Already familiar with the likes of Miller and Pyles, neat to learn from Sedler, who has some of my favorites from this. Great photos and written text.

Just a brilliant book about tamales....The three chefs seem to have taken the time to simplify one of the greatest meals ever.. the Mexican tamale!

I have made almost every recipe in the book and have loved all of them....

I wanted a book with traditional tamale recipes and some updates using more readily available ingredients. I did not want to know how to shape other popular foods into tamale shapes. Coney Island Corned Beef and Cabbage Tamales with Mustard Sauce! If I want corned beef and cabbage, that is what I'll make.

If you are looking for traditional tamale recipes DO NOT BUY this book.

Bought it for the wife who already makes tamales. She looked through it once and said that it's not likely that she would use it. Way too far out from what most would consider a tamale. Buy a more basic book.

This book is yet another excellent product of Mark Milner's innovative and fresh approach to Southwestern cuisine. He covers the fundamentals not only of basic tamale preparation but also offers numerous new and innovative combinations of ingredients. I had previously been to Mr. Milner's Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe to enjoy his tamale creations, so I defintely welcomed the opportunity to see in detail the techniques and ingredients used in their creation. This book should be a welcome addition to any kitchen whose cook enjoys this particular cusine.

I got this and the tamales 101 book. this one has better masa recipes - easier to fit into my kitchenaid, easier to get done. While this one has more risque fillings than 101, I didn't need fillings - we had that covered. we threw a huge tamale party and everyone brought a different filling: mole, tinga, carnitas, etc. it was the masa that we needed to know, and a bit of the steaming times/wrapping tech. this one was more helpful IMO.