How to Make Authentic Christmas Tamales

Diana: There’s a saying in my family that if you don’t cook food that isn’t with love, it won’t taste good. It is that if anybody makes something and they’re upset or they’re cranky or angry, the food is not going to have the same flavor. Anna: These are the grape chilis that we roasted. Sometimes, we use these just to make salsa throughout the year. But every time we smell them, we think, “Oh! Tamales.” Diana: I learned to make tamales with my grandmother and my aunt, and of course, my mother. We make them every year, one time a year only, December 24th. We are like up to here with tamales during Christmas. And she’s always trying to tell me. No, make it less. That would mean that I would have to go out and buy presents for people that came over that bring a nice bottle. Anna: She’s exaggerating. Even though we give out to the monastery, we still have tons left over. It wouldn’t be Christmas without tamales. We need to have them. Every time I get her to do shortcuts or changes, she’s like, “No! I will never change my recipe.” Everyone has a job on making tamales. Usually, the grandma is the main boss. Diana: Being to make them is quite a responsibility. I don’t think as a child, you ever think of yourself as the person who’s going to be directing other generations on how to make it. Anna: I haven’t done it yet but I think I could make them on my own. Not as much, maybe just like 5 pounds. Once I’m at that level where my mom or my mother would say okay, you’re doing it all, I’m going to stand by and watch you make it. I think that that would be a great day. I want my daughters to learn our tradition. I want them to grow up knowing where they came from, who their grandmothers or their great grandmothers, whereas they get older and if they decide to have children, they can pass it on to their children. So that memory is always there. They will always remember them because that’s where the recipes came from. Diana: My name is Diana Ballesteros. Making tamales to me is the taste of love if there’s a taste to it. Anna: I’m Anna Ballesteros. And for me, the power of the tamale is love, family, tradition and Christmas.