Rick Bayless is chef of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago, creator of Frontera gourmet foods, cookbook author and host of Mexico - One Plate at a Time.

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RICKMAIL - sign up for our email list From the Kitchen of Chef Rick Bayless

The Whole Tamalada

MEXICO–ONE PLATE AT A TIME WITH RICK BAYLESS
Episode 8: The Whole Tamalada



Tamales are Rick’s idea of the perfect party food: little gift-wrapped packages of light fluffy masa dough with a whole fiesta’s-worth of sweet and savory flavors inside. And in Mexico, when family and friends get together for a tamalada—a tamal-making party, the cooking’s as much a part of the celebration as the eating. After a look at how tamales are hand-made in a traditional shop in Puerto Vallarta, Rick shows viewers how to pull off a tamalada for a crowd, where the guests roll up their sleeves and take part in the filling, the wrapping and, best of all, the feasting. There are Fresh Sweet Corn Tamalesmade with sweet corn and butter,and two kinds of classic Savory Tamales filled with red chile pork and green chile chicken. As these bundles steam and fill the house with fantastic aromas, the guests enjoy Apple-Tamarind Cooler or, with the addition of some beer, a Mexican Snakebite, and Rick serves up bowlfuls of Caldo de Camaron, a spicy made-ahead shrimp soup with potatoes and dried pasilla chiles. This tamalada’s as much about cooking together as it is about eating together. And that’s one great packaged deal.  

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