flipFestive tamalli with totolin and chīlli
Festive tamalli with totolin and chīlli
Why this dish? During the great festivals of the Templo Mayor — at the very foot of the sanctuary where her stone disk lay — thousands of tamalli were offered and shared. The food of sacred days, they marked the time of Coyolxauhqui's ceremonies and those of her solar brother.
A corn dough stuffed with turkey and chīlli sauce, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. Soft, deep, it is the banquet dish of great days.
When the drum resounded atop the great pyramid, my people shaped these maize packets by the hundreds to honor the sky and the earth. The shredded flesh of the totolin, the fat bird of our yards, is mixed into the dough, along with the dark sauce of grilled chiles; all is tied in the dry husk of the ear. Steam rises from the great pot like incense, and the smell fills the city up to my stone disk. Untie the string, open the husk: what steams inside is the food of days when the gods are not forgotten.
- •Nixtamalized corn dough — large amount (soft wrapper)
- •Turkey meat (totolin) — according to the feast (filling)
- •Dried chīlli (ancho, guajillo) — a handful (sauce)
- •Tomatillos — a few (sauce binder)
- •Dried corn husks (totomochtli) — as many as tamalli (cooking wrapper)
- •Lake salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Festive tamalli with totolin and chīlli
A corn dough stuffed with turkey and chīlli sauce, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. Soft, deep, it is the banquet dish of great days.
Why this dish? During the great festivals of the Templo Mayor — at the very foot of the sanctuary where her stone disk lay — thousands of tamalli were offered and shared. The food of sacred days, they marked the time of Coyolxauhqui's ceremonies and those of her solar brother.
When the drum resounded atop the great pyramid, my people shaped these maize packets by the hundreds to honor the sky and the earth. The shredded flesh of the totolin, the fat bird of our yards, is mixed into the dough, along with the dark sauce of grilled chiles; all is tied in the dry husk of the ear. Steam rises from the great pot like incense, and the smell fills the city up to my stone disk. Untie the string, open the husk: what steams inside is the food of days when the gods are not forgotten.
Ingredients (period version)
- Nixtamalized corn dough — large amount (soft wrapper)
- Turkey meat (totolin) — according to the feast (filling)
- Dried chīlli (ancho, guajillo) — a handful (sauce)
- Tomatillos — a few (sauce binder)
- Dried corn husks (totomochtli) — as many as tamalli (cooking wrapper)
- Lake salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Masa harina for tamales — 400 g (dough)
- Lard or neutral oil — 120 g (fluffiness (period version omitted it))
- Warm chicken broth — about 300 ml (hydration)
- Cooked shredded turkey thigh — 300 g (filling)
- Dried ancho + guajillo chiles — 4 total (sauce)
- Tomatillos — 200 g (sauce)
- Dried corn husks — 16, soaked 30 min (wrapper)
- Salt — 1.5 tsp (seasoning)
Method
- Soak dried chiles in hot water for 20 min, then blend with tomatillos and a little soaking water to make a thick sauce.
- Mix shredded turkey with half the sauce; season with salt.
- Beat lard until whitish, incorporate masa harina, salt, and broth until a fluffy dough forms a ribbon.
- Spread a layer of dough on each squeezed-dry corn husk, place a spoonful of filling in the center.
- Fold the husk to enclose the filling and tie with a strip of husk.
- Steam upright in a pot for 50-60 min, until the dough cleanly pulls away from the husk.
How it was made : Sahagún describes countless varieties of tamalli served at festivals and markets in Tlatelolco. Turkey (totolin) and dog were the main domestic meats; pork and lard arrived only with the Spanish, so period tamalli were denser, without beaten fat.
The contemporary twist : Serve the tamalli still in its husk, opened like a fan, drizzled with a streak of red sauce, like a present unwrapped on the table.
Sources : Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (Codex de Florence) · Sophie D. Coe, America's First Cuisines, University of Texas Press, 1994
Coyolxauhqui · Charactorium
