Tamales

Lets talk about the daily breakfast for thousands of Mexicans: the delicious TAMALES. But hang on ! wait a moment ! When we talk about tamales, we have to talk about Atoles as well. This is turning very interesting. Here we go ! Just imagine you're now in México City... more than 20 million people in the same city... no time for breakfast... Of course you are plenty of choices: fast food, good restaurants, etc. Now, just to have you in the right picture, one more thing: Mexico City is located in the northern temperate zone of the planet. So, is not cold, not warm, just the perfect weather. Of course there are variations according with the season, but the weather there is normally beautiful. Let's back to the point. Nevertheless, a normal morning in Mexico City is a little cold all along the year. Then, you'll be looking for something warm. And of course, something with enough energy to keep you going the whole day. Remember, when you live in a city with more than 20 million people and the commute average is about 2 hours a day, you have no much time to eat. And then, just in the gate of your office or in the corner where you get out of your bus is a trolley with delicious, warm and energetic tamales and atole... mmmh!

But let me told you what are the tamales and atole. As you probably already know, mexican diet have been based on corn from hundreds of years. Tamales is a mix of corn flour with animal lard and water, then filled with pork, chicken or chilli with cheese. That mix could be wrapped either in corn or banana leaves and steamed for hours. The corn wrapped tamales are the "common" ones and the banana leaf wrapped are known as "chiapanecos" or "veracruzanos" (named after the mexican Chiapas and Veracruz states) or simply as "banana leaf" tamales. Atole is a mix of milk, wheat flour, fruit or syrup and species. The most common flavors are strawberry, chocolate (with a little variation sometimes known as "champurrado" instead of atole, but this is made with corn flour) and cajeta (burn milk)

Visit this link to see two beautiful pictures of the typical "tamales y atole" stall and trolley. There you'll find a brief description of the "Atole Fair".

Finally, if you live in Melbourne or at the surrounding suburbs, you can enjoy authentic tamales and atole by visiting our websites at www.tastytamales.com.au and www.cualli.com.au