Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you started the year with a clean slate, but if you have not, it’s all good. Some things get added so late in the year that they’ll have to be finished in the new year, while other things just take time to accomplish and before you know it, it’s a new year again. Did you get to enjoy some authentic tamales throughout the year? In this new year, however empty or full your slate is, enjoy the new opportunity to accomplish the things on your slate and be sure to stop along the way for some delicious Texas style tamales.

In the process of time, tamales have proven their reliability and the evolutionary changes in them through the ages has brought an explosion of flavor and deliciousness! In the “Tamale World”, a Tamalero, needs time to create, produce, sometimes mass produce and then put out his delicious craft for all to enjoy. Throughout the centuries, with each new year, tamales come out on top. Usually the traditional savory red chile pork tamales still remain the most preferred, but sometimes a new fusion of international flavors that are intentionally combined to make a delicious new filling and they make the popularity chart for a time.

This year, In my own personal “tamales at Christmas” experience, my friend and I made a delicious green chile pork with nopales filling, although it’s not a new dish, nopales in tamales is not very common. The green chile was made from a tomatillo base which has a tangy flavor. Seasoning the pork with Mexican spices and simmering it with the green chile and cactus amalgamated the flavors into perfect traditional Mexican cuisine. Slathering a perfect ratio of flavorful masa and the pork and nopales filling on a prepared soft corn husk and then steaming a potful of these savory tamales made our tamal experience very successful. A bonus point regarding this particular filling is the fact that nopales or cactus are not only delicious with a distinctive tangy flavor, but they are good for you in many ways. 

For many people the Christmas festivities and the New Year celebrations include tamales, tamales and holidays go hand in hand, hopefully you tasted and enjoyed some delicious Mexican style tamales during your holiday season. However, the historic appreciation of tamales started way before Christmas traditions and New Year celebrations. They are a practical food that satisfy and fill you, tamales are for all year round. Thousands of years ago they proved to be a valuable source of food, only after the people were sustained and flourishing were they included into ceremonial rituals of the indigenous people. 

On ordinary days they can make an extraordinary meal. On stressful days, your frozen “stash of tamales” can ease the apprehension of serving a good meal on short notice or after a long work day. Most certainly, throughout the year with all the special occasions between holidays tamales will save the day again and again. If you didn’t get your chance to enjoy tamales at Christmas or New Years, the rest of the year will provide plenty of occasions for you to partake in some delicious authentic Mexican style tamales. 

A new year is more time for us. As we've entered into the new year, thank God for the chance to finish the things on our slate. New year resolutions, restarting old goals, renewing things in our lives and establishing good habits again are all part of stepping into a fresh new year. As you do this, stop to smell and taste the tamales along the way and enjoy the new year which will pass before you know it.