North America · Volume 33, The Rice Coast, the Corridor and the Delta
Mississippi Delta hot tamales
Mississippi Delta
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 2 hours
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Makes about 20. About 2 hours.
Ingredients
- 500g pork shoulder, cooked and shredded
- 400g cornmeal
- about 500ml, or as needed to form a spreadable dough reserved pork cooking liquid
- ½ tsp cayenne, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp salt cayenne, paprika, garlic, salt
- about 20, plus a few extra for tying dried corn husks, soaked
Method
- Season the shredded pork generously with cayenne, paprika and garlic.
- Mix the cornmeal with enough reserved pork cooking liquid to form a spreadable, slightly loose dough.
- Spread a layer of the cornmeal dough onto a soaked corn husk, top with a spoonful of seasoned pork, and fold and tie the parcel.
- Simmer the wrapped tamales in a well seasoned, cayenne-spiked liquid until the cornmeal has set and cooked through, roughly 45 minutes to an hour, distinctly boiled rather than steamed, unlike a Mexican tamale.
What a modern chef changes
The pork and the simmering liquor both built with more precision, the cornmeal casing's texture controlled deliberately
Rung 4
Method
- Cook the pork shoulder sous vide until fully tender, then sear briefly for colour before shredding, giving a more consistent texture than a long stovetop braise.
- Reduce the simmering liquid to a concentrated, deliberately fiery stock before the tamales go in, rather than a thinner, more casually seasoned pot, so the cayenne heat that defines a Delta tamale against its Mexican ancestor is built in from the start rather than added at the table.