Top 17 How To Pronounce Tamale All Answers

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While I personally say “tamal,” there is absolutely no reason to shame people for saying “a tamale” instead of “a tamal,” especially when they’re speaking English. Yes, in Mexican Spanish the singular is “tamal.” But it didn’t have to be.Tamale is an anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal (plural: tamales). Tamal comes from the Nahuatl tamalli. The English “tamale” is a back-formation of tamales, with English speakers interpreting the -e- as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix -es.In proper Spanish, a tamal is singular, and tamales are plural.

Contents

How do Mexicans say tamales?

Which is correct tamal or tamale?

Tamale is an anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal (plural: tamales). Tamal comes from the Nahuatl tamalli. The English “tamale” is a back-formation of tamales, with English speakers interpreting the -e- as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix -es.

Is one tamale a tamal?

In proper Spanish, a tamal is singular, and tamales are plural.

Why do Hispanics eat tamales for Christmas?

Tamales have become a part of the traditional Mexican celebration of las posadas, the annual commemoration of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before Jesus’ birth. And that’s why for families all across the American Southwest, and here in Texas, ’tis the season for tamales.

Why do we eat tamales on Christmas?

Making tamales during the Christmas holidays is a tradition for Mexican, Mexican-Texan, and Mexican American families that has been passed down for decades. According to the Los Angeles Times, in Mesoamerica, corn was viewed as a substance of life and was believed that the Gods made humans from corn.

What do you call someone who sells tamales?

“I have been selling tamales ‘cernidos’ for almost 30 years, which people call ‘tamal chilango‘ (a chilango is a person who hails from Mexico City). My parents were from the city of Puebla,” said Arcadio Sánchez Martínez, a tamale vendor in the city of Veracruz.

What country are tamales from?

Tamales were the first dish made from corn in Mesoamerica. Evidence of tamale cooking dates back to ancient civilizations in Mexico as early as 8000 BC. Although the exact history is not entirely clear, many historians believe that tamales were first made by the Aztecs ten thousand years ago.

Why are tamales so good?

Tamales provide healthy micronutrients, including folate, vitamin A, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, potassium, and iron. Adding chili peppers can give tamales an extra kick, and the capsaicin in spicy peppers may help support vascular and metabolic health.

What tamale means?

The word tamale comes from the Mexican Spanish tamal, which has a Nahuatl root, tamalli, meaning “wrapped.” Definitions of tamale. corn and cornmeal dough stuffed with a meat mixture then wrapped in corn husks and steamed. type of: dish. a particular item of prepared food.

How do you read a quesadilla?

The word quesadilla evolved by adding the diminutive -illa, to quesada, thus forming quesadilla. The correct pronunciation of quesadilla is keh-sah-DEE-yah. The first point to not is that the stress is placed on the third syllable, -DEE. In the first syllable, the “Q” is pronounced as a “K”.

What do you eat with tamales?

15 Simple Side Dishes for Tamales

Avocado Cucumber Salad.
Air Fryer Plantains.
Elotes (Mexican Street Corn) Salad.
Papas Con Rajas.
Refried Black Beans.
Gallo Pinto.
Roasted Chili Corn Salsa.
Arroz Borracho (Beer Steamed Yellow Rice)

Why are tamales wrapped in corn husks?

Corn husks are used to make tamales, they hold the tamales together and help keep them from drying out. The corn husks allow the steam to penetrate while the tamales cook. You can also find dried corn husks online.

Are tamales dumplings?

Tamales are steamed dumplings made of corn flour, with a filling of meat, vegetables or (dried) fruit. Good tamales are light and fluffy in texture and a popular street food snack throughout Mexico. They are eaten from early in the morning until late at night.

Why are tamales called tamales?

Tamales are made of masa, which is ground corn moistened with water. The masa is wrapped in whatever leaves are available, such as corn husks, banana leaves, or even tree bark. The wrapping gives the tamale its name, as it comes from the word tamalli, the Náhuatl word meaning wrapped.

Are tamales Hispanic?

What is a tamale? Tamales are a traditional Mexican dish made with a corn based dough mixture that is filled with various meats or beans and cheese. Tamales are wrapped and cooked in corn husks or banana leaves, but they are removed from the husks before eating.

What do you call someone who sells tamales?

How to Pronounce Tamales? (CORRECTLY)

how to pronounce tamale

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Contents

Origin[edit]

Caribbean[edit]

Central America[edit]

Mexico[edit]

South America[edit]

Philippines and Guam[edit]

United States[edit]

Wikipedia

Traditional Mesoamerican dish

Not to be confused with Tomalley

A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf.[1] The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, herbs, chilies, or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned.

Tamale is an anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal (plural: tamales).[2] Tamal comes from the Nahuatl tamalli.[3] The English “tamale” is a back-formation of tamales, with English speakers interpreting the -e- as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix -es.[4]
Tamales served to honor the birth of a child, Florentine Codex

Origin [ edit ]
Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 BC.[1]
The preparation of tamales is likely to have spread from the indigenous cultures in Guatemala and Mexico to the rest of Latin America. According to archaeologists Karl Taube, William Saturno, and David Stuart, tamales may date from around 100 AD. They found pictorial references in the Mural of San Bartolo, in Petén, Guatemala.[5]
The Aztec and Maya civilizations, as well as the Olmec and Toltec before them, used tamales as easily portable food, for hunting trips, and for traveling large distances, as well as supporting their armies.[1] Tamales were also considered sacred, as they were seen as the food of the gods.[citation needed] The Aztec, Maya, Olmecs, and Toltecs all considered themselves to be people of corn, so tamales played a large part in their rituals and festivals.[6]
Caribbean [ edit ]
Cuba [ edit ]
In Cuba, before the 1959 Revolution, street vendors sold Mexican-style tamales wrapped in corn husks, usually made without any kind of spicy seasoning. Cuban tamales being identical in form to those made in Mexico City suggests they were brought over to Cuba during the period of intense cultural and musical exchange between Cuba and Mexico after the 1920s.[citation needed]
A well-known Cuban song from the 1950s, “Los Tamalitos de Olga”, (a cha-cha-cha sung by Orquesta Aragón) celebrated the delicious tamales sold by a street vendor in Cienfuegos. A peculiarly Cuban invention is the dish known as tamal en cazuela, basically consisting of tamale masa with the meat stuffing stirred into the masa, and then cooked in a pot on the stove to form a kind of hearty cornmeal porridge.[7]
Dominican Republic [ edit ]
In the Dominican Republic, guanimo are Dominican tamales stuffed with picadillo. The name guanimo has its origin from the native Taínos.

Puerto Rico [ edit ]
Guanime is a Puerto Rican dish that can be traced back to pre-Columbian times. It consists of corn masa that is stuffed with beans, seafood, nuts, or meat, and then wrapped in corn husks slowly cooked on a grill.

Guanimes are prepared in a plain version, without the stuffing, and served with stewed salted cod fish. Since the arrival of Europeans, guanimes have lost their stuffing. Contemporary guanimes are made with corn masa seasoned with coconut milk, lard, broth, and annatto, wrapped in a banana leaf or corn husk.

The several versions of guanimes can be made with green plantains, cassava, and a sweet version made with sweet plantains and cornmeal.

The guanime is also related to the pastel, a root tamale dating to around the same time as the native Taíno guanimes.

Trinidad and Tobago [ edit ]
In Trinidad and Tobago, it is called a pastelle and is popular in many households during the entire Christmas season and New Year celebrations. It is usually made with cornmeal and filled with cooked, seasoned meat (chicken and beef being the most popular), raisins, olives, capers, and other seasonings. The entire pastelle is wrapped in a banana leaf, bound with twine and steamed. When fully cooked, the banana leaf is removed to reveal the brightly yellow-colored dish. It is often indulged as is or along with a meal. The sweet version is called paymee.[8]
Central America [ edit ]
Belize [ edit ]
The tamale is a staple in Belize, where it is also known as dukunu, a sweet corn tamale that gets its name from the Garifuna people.[9] Dukunus are mostly vegetarian and consist of roasted corn kernels blended with coconut milk as a base. Butter, salt, and sugar are also added. Dukunus filled with different meats are also made.

El Salvador [ edit ]
Tamales are a traditional dish in El Salvador. Tamales are typically eaten during holidays, like Christmas.[10] Tamales have a corn masa base and are wrapped in banana leaves. They contain fillings like chicken, vegetables, and/or beans. Corn tamales, or tamales de elote, are also popular.[11] Bean tamales, or tamales pisques, are also consumed, typically during Holy Week.[12]
Guatemala [ edit ]
Black and red tamales in Guatemala.

Pre-Columbian Guatemala [ edit ]
In the classical times of the Maya of Central America (Guatemala in particular), the great Mayan lords delighted in a baked dough bun during the winter solstice, made of maize mixed with turkey, tepezcuintle (lowland paca) or venison, spices, and chili pepper, among other ingredients.

This meal was later integrated into modern Guatemalan traditions. For example, on Christmas Eve, families prepare black, red, or sweet tamales for family and friends to show gratitude. The tamales are often accompanied with chocolate, yolk bread, and punch, and participate in the Mass of Gallo, at midnight.

In Guatemala, eating tamales at midnight on December 24 and 31 is customary. Guatemalans also eat tamales for holiday celebrations, birthdays, and baptisms, so the tamale is considered an important dish in the culture of Guatemala.

Guatemala has many tamale varieties, from the traditional corn-husked tamale called a chuchito, to a sweet version of tamale, which uses the same corn dough, but is seasoned with honey or sugar combined with chocolate, almonds, plums, seeds, and peppers. Tamales are sold in stores and private homes (especially on Saturdays). A red light on a home at night is a sign that tamales are for sale at that home.[13]
Varieties [ edit ]
Red tamales owe their name to achiote and tomato and are made with corn dough stuffed with recado rojo , raisins, chili peppers, chicken, beef or pork wrapped in banana leaves.

, raisins, chili peppers, chicken, beef or pork wrapped in banana leaves. Cambray tamales contain raisins and almonds. Sweet tamales are filled with sweet recado rojo . Black tamales are named after the color that chocolate gives them. Chipilin tamales wrapped in corn husks, parrot tamales, and corn tamales among others are also made. Cream tamales and cheese and anise seeds are also mixed with corn tamales.

. Black tamales are named after the color that chocolate gives them. Chipilin tamales wrapped in corn husks, parrot tamales, and corn tamales among others are also made. Cream tamales and cheese and anise seeds are also mixed with corn tamales. Chuchito is a typical and emblematic dish of Guatemala. It is a variation of the tamale made with corn dough, but a firmer consistency, although lard can be added to the dough to generate a more pleasant taste and consistency. It is usually mixed with recado rojo of tomato and with a filling that can be with chicken, beef, or pork. It is wrapped with dried cob leaves (tusa or bender). In some places, it is accompanied by cheese, sauce, or both.

is a typical and emblematic dish of Guatemala. It is a variation of the tamale made with corn dough, but a firmer consistency, although lard can be added to the dough to generate a more pleasant taste and consistency. It is usually mixed with of tomato and with a filling that can be with chicken, beef, or pork. It is wrapped with dried cob leaves (tusa or bender). In some places, it is accompanied by cheese, sauce, or both. Rice tamales come from the Guatemalan highlands, where the typical corn dough is replaced by a thick dough of annealed rice with water and salt. The preparation of the recado rojo does not differ much from the original, since only some regions have the ingredients with which it is made.

does not differ much from the original, since only some regions have the ingredients with which it is made. Paches is a tamale particularly from the highlands of Guatemala that uses potato instead of maize for the dough.

is a tamale particularly from the highlands of Guatemala that uses potato instead of maize for the dough. Tamal or tamalito is dough only, with no meats or other fillings. This dish is used to accompany a meal and used to scoop food on the plate, or just eaten plain along with the main dish.

Nicaragua [ edit ]
Nacatamal with both banana leaf and aluminum foil wrapping with both banana leaf and aluminum foil wrapping

The most popular version of the Tamal in Nicaragua is the nacatamal and sometimes serves as an entire meal in itself. It is a traditional dish with indigenous origins. The name comes from the Nawat language spoken by the Nicarao, who were situated on the Southern Pacific coast of Nicaragua, and translates to “meat tamale”.[14] The nacatamal is perhaps the most produced within traditional Nicaraguan cuisine and it is an event often reserved for Sundays at mid-morning. It is usually eaten together with fresh bread and coffee. Enjoying nacatamales during special occasions and to invite extended family and neighbors to also partake is a common occurrence.

Nacatamales are much larger in size in comparison to their counterparts, and made up of mostly nixtamalized corn masa (a kind of dough traditionally made from a process called nizquezar) and lard). The masa and liquified concoction of onion, garlic, tomato, salt, achiote (annatto), naranja agria and bell pepper is cooked and the result becomes the base for the nacatamal and it is also referred to as masa. This base is ladled onto plantain leaves used for wrapping into large individual portions. The filling usually consists of annatto-seasoned pork meat, rice, slices of potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions; olives, spearmint sprigs, and chile congo, a very small, egg-shaped chile found in Nicaragua. On occasion, prunes, raisins, or capers can be added. The masa and filling are then wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with a string, and made into pillow-shaped bundles – nacatamales. They are then steamed or pressure-cooked for several hours. The entire process is very labor-intensive, and it often requires preparation over the course of two days; involving the whole family may be needed to complete it.

Varieties [ edit ]
Pizque Are a much simpler version of a tamal in Nicaragua, they are wrapped in a banana leaf, and are eaten with cheese and cooked red beans.

Are a much simpler version of a tamal in Nicaragua, they are wrapped in a banana leaf, and are eaten with cheese and cooked red beans. Pizque Relleno have a sweet flavor, filled with a mixture of ground beans sweetened with cane sugar or rapadura and are wrapped in banana leaves. They serve as a dessert.

have a sweet flavor, filled with a mixture of ground beans sweetened with cane sugar or rapadura and are wrapped in banana leaves. They serve as a dessert. Yoltamal Is made with tender corn grains that gives it a slightly sweet flavor and wrapped in corn husks. It is generally eaten accompanied by quesillo or cheese, and sour cream.

Is made with tender corn grains that gives it a slightly sweet flavor and wrapped in corn husks. It is generally eaten accompanied by quesillo or cheese, and sour cream. Yoltamal Relleno . A variety of the above stuffed with a mixture of rapadura and grated or ground cheese.

. A variety of the above stuffed with a mixture of rapadura and grated or ground cheese. Montucas Neosegovianas y Estelianas . A Northern Nicaraguan tamal make with chicken or hen meat, wrapped in a banana leaf and tied

. A Northern Nicaraguan tamal make with chicken or hen meat, wrapped in a banana leaf and tied Paco Is a Western Nicaraguan tamal mostly found in León. that consists of masa mixed with mashed green plantain, sugar, honey and salt. It’s wrapped in tempisque or fig leaf and cooked.

Mexico [ edit ]
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica [ edit ]
Pre-Columbian Mayas [ edit ]
In the pre-Columbian era, the Mayas ate tamales and often served them at feasts and festivals.[15] The Classic Maya hieroglyph for tamales has been identified on pots and other objects dating back to the Classic Era (200–1000 CE), although they likely were eaten much earlier.[16] While tortillas are the basis for the contemporary Maya diet, remarkably little evidence exists for tortilla production among the Classic period Maya. A lack of griddles in the archaeological record suggests that the primary foodstuff of the Mesoamerican diet may have been the tamal, a cooked, vegetal-wrapped mass of maize dough.[17] Tamales are cooked without the use of ceramic technologies and therefore the form of the tamale is thought to predate the tortilla.[18] Similarities between the two maize products can be found in both the ingredients and preparation techniques, and the linguistic ambiguity exhibited by the pan-Mayan term wa referring to a basic, daily consumed maize product that can refer to either tortillas or tamales.[17]
Aztecs [ edit ]
In the pre-Columbian era, the Aztecs ate tamales with fillings such as turkey, flamingo, frog, axolotl, pocket gopher, rabbit, fish, turkey eggs, honey, fruits, squash, and beans, and even no filling.[19] Aztec tamales differed from modern tamales by not having added fat.[19]
One of the most significant rituals for the Aztecs was the feast of Atamalcualiztli (eating of water tamales). This ritual, held every eight years for a whole week, was done by eating tamales without any seasoning, spices, or filling, which allowed the maize freedom from being overworked in the usual tamale cooking methods.[20]
Modern Mexico [ edit ]
tamalera A batch of Mexican tamales in the

tamal dulce breakfast tamale from breakfast tamale from Oaxaca , Mexico. It contains pineapple raisins and blackberries

In Mexico, tamales begin with a dough made from ground nixtamalized corn (hominy), called masa, or alternatively a rehydrated masa powder, such as Maseca. It is combined with lard or vegetable shortening, along with broth or water, to bring the dough to the consistency of a very thick batter. It is traditional to whisk the lard, and whisk the resulting batter, with the intent of producing the signature soft and fluffy texture. Modern recipes may use baking powder to achieve a similar effect. Chili purees or dried chili powders are also occasionally added to the batter, which in addition to the spice can cause some tamales to appear red in color. Tamales are generally wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves before being steamed, with the choice of husk depending on the region. They usually have a sweet or savory filling and are usually steamed until firm.

Tamale-making is a ritual that has been part of Mexican life since pre-Hispanic times, when special fillings and forms were designated for each specific festival or life event. Today, tamales are typically filled with meats, cheese, or vegetables, especially chilies. Preparation is complex and time-consuming, and an excellent example of Mexican communal cooking, where this task usually falls to the women.[21] Tamales are a favorite comfort food in Mexico, eaten as both breakfast and dinner, and often accompanied by hot atole or champurrado and arroz con leche (rice porridge, “rice with milk”) or maize-based beverages of indigenous origin. Street vendors can be seen serving them from huge, steaming, covered pots (tamaleras) or ollas.

Instead of corn husks, banana or plantain leaves are used in tropical parts of the country, such as Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, and the Yucatán Peninsula. These tamales are rather square in shape, often very large—15 inches (40 cm)—and these larger tamales are commonly known as pibs in the Yucatán Peninsula. Another very large type of tamale is zacahuil, made in the Huasteca region of Mexico. Depending on the size, zacahuil can feed between 50 and 200 people; they are made during festivals and holidays, for quinceañeras, and on Sundays to be sold at the markets.[22][23]
South America [ edit ]
South American-style humitas

Humitas (from Quechua humint’a) is a Native South American dish from pre-Hispanic times, a traditional food from the Andes and it can be found in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Northwest Argentina. It consists of fresh choclo (Peruvian corn) pounded to a paste, wrapped in a fresh corn husk, and slowly steamed or boiled in a pot of water. In Bolivia it is known as huminta and in Brazil as pamonha.

Venezuela [ edit ]
Hallaca is a traditional meal from Venezuela that resembles the aspect of a tamal. It consists of corn dough stuffed with a stew of beef, pork, or chicken and other ingredients such as raisins, capers, and olives, fresh onion rings, red and green bell pepper slices. There are also vegetarian options with black beans or tofu. Hallacas are folded in plantain leaves, tied with strings, and boiled. The dish is traditionally served during the Christmas season and has several regional variants in Venezuela. It has been described as a national dish of Venezuela but it can be found also in variants. A characteristic of the hallaca is the delicate corn dough made with consommé or broth and lard colored with annatto.

Philippines and Guam [ edit ]
Binaki, a type of sweet tamale from Philippines , a type of sweet tamale from Bukidnon

In the Philippines and Guam, which were governed by Spain as a province of Mexico, different forms of tamale-like foods exist. In the Philippines, they merged with the native leaf-wrapped rice cakes (kakanin) and are made with a dough derived from ground rice and are filled with seasoned chicken or pork with the addition of peanuts and other seasonings such as sugar. In some places, such as Pampanga, where it is popularly known as bobotu,[24] and Batangas provinces, the tamales are wrapped in banana leaves, but sweet corn varieties from the Visayas region are wrapped in corn husks similar to the sweet corn tamales of the American Southwest and Mexico. Because of the work involved in the preparation of tamales, they usually only appear during the special holidays or other big celebrations. Various tamal recipes have practically disappeared under the pressures of modern life and the ease of fast food. Several varieties of tamales are also found in the Philippines.[25][26][27]
Tamales, tamalis, tamalos, and pasteles are different varieties found throughout the region. Some are sweet, some are savory, and some are sweet and savory. Mostly wrapped in banana leaves and made of rice, either the whole grain or ground and cooked with coconut milk and other seasonings, they are sometimes filled with meat and seafood, or are plain and have no filling. There are certain varieties, such as tamalos, that are made of a sweet corn masa wrapped in a corn husk or leaf. There are also varieties made without masa, like tamalis, which are made with small fish fry wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, similar to the tamales de charal from Mexico, where the small fish are cooked whole with herbs and seasonings wrapped inside a corn husk without masa. The number of varieties has dwindled through the years so certain types of tamales that were once popular in the Philippines have become lost or are simply memories. The variety found in Guam, known as tamales guiso, is made with corn masa and wrapped in corn husks, and as with the Philippine tamales, are clear evidence of the influence of the galleon trade that occurred between the ports of Manila and Acapulco.[28][29][30][31][32]
United States [ edit ]
Tamales have been eaten in the United States since at least 1893, when they were featured at the World’s Columbian Exposition.[33] In 1894, when tamales were the most popular ethnic food in Los Angeles, XLNT Foods started making them. The company is the oldest continuously operating Mexican food brand in the United States, and one of the oldest companies in Southern California.[34]
A tradition of roving tamale sellers was documented in early 20th-century blues music.[33] They are the subject of the well-known 1937 blues/ragtime song “They’re Red Hot” by Robert Johnson.

While Mexican-style and other Latin American-style tamales are featured at ethnic restaurants throughout the United States, some distinctly indigenous styles also are made.

The Choctaw and Chickasaw make a dish called banaha, which can be stuffed or not (plain). Usually, the filling (range from none, fried bacon, turkey, deer, nuts, and vegetables such as onions, potatoes, squash, and sweet potatoes) can either be filled or mixed with the masa and steamed in a corn husk.

Cherokee tamales, also known as bean bread or “broadswords”, were made with hominy (in the case of the Cherokee, the masa was made from corn boiled in water treated with wood ashes instead of lime) and beans, and wrapped in green corn leaves or large tree leaves and boiled, similar to the meatless pre-Columbian bean and masa tamales still prepared in Chiapas, central Mexico, and Guatemala.

In the Mississippi Delta, African Americans developed a spicy tamale made from cornmeal instead of masa, which is boiled in corn husks. This is sometimes called a “hot tamale”.[33][35][36]
In northern Louisiana, tamales have been made for several centuries. The Spanish established presidio Los Adaes in 1721 in modern-day Robeline, Louisiana. The descendants of these Spanish settlers from central Mexico were the first tamale makers to arrive in the eastern US. Zwolle, Louisiana, has a Tamale Fiesta every year in October.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, the name “tamale pie” was given to meat pies and casseroles made with a cornmeal crust and typical tamale fillings arranged in layers. Although characterized as Mexican food, these forms are not popular in Mexican American culture in which the individually wrapped style is preferred.[37]
The Indio International Tamale Festival held every December in Indio, California, has earned two Guinness World Records: the largest tamale festival (154 000 in attendance, Dec. 2002)[38] and the world’s largest tamale, over 1 foot (0.3 m) in diameter and 40 feet (12.2 m) in length, created by Chef John Sedlar, since beaten by H. Ayuntamiento de Centro Villahermosa (Mexico) in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico, on 25 November 2018. The current record stands at 50.05 m[39]. The 2006 Guinness book calls the festival “the world’s largest cooking and culinary festival”.[citation needed]
See also [ edit ]

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales

Tamal versus tamale. It’s the argument that always comes up around this time of the year across the country as we all get ready to eat our body’s worth — at least — of tamales. And it turns out that your stance on the way to properly address a singular form of tamales has a lot more to do with your identity, nostalgia, and tolerance of the evolution of the Spanish language.

I’ve always been of the tamal school of masa thought. And I’m guilty of getting on my high horse and correcting people who I thought were mispronouncing it by saying “tamale” in English as though it were singular. In proper Spanish, a tamal is singular, and tamales are plural.

That was until a response to one of my annual #tamalnottamale tweets by the diligent investigative immigration reporter Aura Bogado made me question everything.

I, too, used to think this, but it’s a Spanishism that were erroneously imposing. The nahuatl word is tamalli; singular tamale honors the root. — Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 11, 2018

Is it possible that the seemingly bastardized English word for a single tamal has actually been the correct way to say it all along? As Bogado notes, in the language of the Aztecs, it’s been tamalli — or “tamalé” — all along.

Tamale, even if it makes you cringe, is not technically wrong. It’s both a bonafide entry in the Oxford English language dictionary, and is listed as singular in the Associated Press Stylebook, which is the omnipotent bible journalists strive to follow on a letter-by-letter basis.

The reasoning is that tamale is the English translation or anglicization of the word tamal, and it’s a lonely distinction. Most other famous Mexican dish changes do not change when they make the journey to an English speaking country. A taco is a still a taco, a tostada a tostada, a sope a sope, an enchilada is an enchilada, and so on. All of this still doesn’t change the fact that hearing it or reading it makes a lot of us, who grew up eating them and asking our mamás and abuelas nicely for one more tamal, cringe.

RELATED: Tamales are Christmas: Here is Where to Find Good Tamales in L.A. to Celebrate the Season

I asked Mr. modern Mexican cuisine himself, chef Enrique Olvera, what team he is on and how he presents the dish in both his Spanish and English menus at his 15 internationally renowned restaurants. (It’s soon to be 16, with his new restaurant in Los Angeles opening in 2019.)

“I am on team tamal,” he confirmed via email. “That is how we write it in Spanish and tamale just sounds weird.” Olvera also won’t go out of his way to correct you if you say tamale in front of him. “Maybe when I am older I will become more grumpy, but for now let people call tamales what they want.”

However if you are in front of chef Carlos Salgado, the pioneering Mexican-American, James Beard Award semi-finalist of Taco Maria in Costa Mesa – it’s a different story.

“I’ll correct anyone, kindly,” he tells me over the phone while he prepares tamales for this holidays season using chalqueño heirloom corn from Mexico for his masa. It’s not too much of a surprise considering his active Twitter account.

This year, he’s making chicken in mole tamales with shmaltz and duck fat in the masa; pork in green chile ones with lard from responsibly raised pigs in that masa; and a vegetable one with poblano rajas, raclette cheese with cultured butter, and creme fraiche in that masa.

Salgado is forgiving if it is an honest mistake.

“You usually get a sense pretty quickly of people who generally respect language and food but don’t know any better and those who are saying it as a way of exotifying and folklorizing something that doesn’t need to be exotic or folkloric,” he says.

He admits that he is not a linguistic scholar and hasn’t studied all of Mexico’s regions, but in his view, tamale should always be tamal. Although he admits that as he’s gotten older, he’s chilled out a bit.

“In my maturity, I try to not engage with as many people as I used to about this. After all, I’m not interested in pushing people away. I’m interested in people just respecting people and culture and eating tamales.”

But what are your thoughts on the masa matter if you’re a Mexican food enthusiast but not a native speaker of Spanish? You’ll probably use tamale proudly because you don’t speak Spanish, so why pretend that you do?

“You know there’s the right way to pronounce mozzarella or croissant but if you do that as a non-native speaker you can sound more pretentious or annoying than if you just use the accepted non-native incorrect pronunciation,” says Brett Adams, the founder of the Mas o Menos taco pop-up series in Portland, Oregon.

Then you have the people who were born a “tamale” and have grown into “tamal,” or the other way around. Like Melissa Montalvo, a third-generation Mexican-American who was born in Moreno Valley, raised in Arizona, and now lives in Guadalajara working for Agave Lab, a startup incubator.

“It’s a process,” she says over Instagram in a poll I conducted on the matter, in which 131 people voted for tamal and only 43 followers voted for tamale. “I grew up not speaking tons of Spanish so tamal-ee was what I knew! But now I’m adapting to tamal in Guadalajara, but still use them both interchangeably.”

Same with Taco USA author Gustavo Arellano, who has evolved over the years and come a long way from 2011 when he wrote that the word “tamale” was a case of “outright mongrelization” and that we shouldn’t “allow Manifest Destiny to claim another Mexican culinary icon ala chili.”

A quick check-in with him in 2018 reveals that Arellano is now of the “IT’S BOTH, MY FUCKING GOD” school of masa thought.

RELATED: The True Story of How National Taco Day Was Invented — Then Appropriated

“People tend to get attached to the way they’ve been taught to say words in español at home,” says Elizabeth Flores, an editor at Cultura Colectiva, based in Mexico City. She is a professional translator and has translated more than a dozen books from English to Spanish and the other way around. Some are about food, like this one about tomatoes for Fundación Grupo México.

According to her, the “tamal vs. tamale” debate has “an almost emotional connection” with people simply because it becomes a “how my family speaks the language vs. how it’s ‘supposed to be’ written” type of language conflict. In a culture like Mexico, where family always comes before anything, it makes sense that people will go with what feels familiar rather than what they are expected to say.

As for the fact that it sounds a whole lot like the original Náhuatl word for tamales, Flores confirms that it’s a case of true irony. Yes, tamale phonetically sounds exactly like the original word, but it is wrong in Spanish.

RELATED: An Ode to Oaxacan L.A. ~ Friday Nights at Poncho’s Tlayudas

The one thing that everyone can agree on regardless of race, language, or background, is to continue eating tons of tamales and just use the form that is the most comfortable to you. Language is always evolving and no one really has any control over it, so there is not much use in trying to confine such a transient thing to rules.

Olvera feels the same. “I think we should not only be tolerant but accepting of [tamal vs. tamale] diversity and let freedom rule the world.”

As for me? I’m still team tamal because my Mexican wife will crucify me if she ever hears me code-switch into tamale while speaking English. But really, all of this is pointless because who the hell only eats one tamal or tamale anyway? Its singular form is almost irrelevant.

This post was originally published on December 2018.

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Like this article? We’re member supported and need your help to keep publishing stories like this one. You can contribute any amount you like, or join our membership program and get perks, event access, merch, and more. Click Here to Support L.A. TACO

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales

Tamal versus tamale. It’s the argument that always comes up around this time of the year across the country as we all get ready to eat our body’s worth — at least — of tamales. And it turns out that your stance on the way to properly address a singular form of tamales has a lot more to do with your identity, nostalgia, and tolerance of the evolution of the Spanish language.

I’ve always been of the tamal school of masa thought. And I’m guilty of getting on my high horse and correcting people who I thought were mispronouncing it by saying “tamale” in English as though it were singular. In proper Spanish, a tamal is singular, and tamales are plural.

That was until a response to one of my annual #tamalnottamale tweets by the diligent investigative immigration reporter Aura Bogado made me question everything.

I, too, used to think this, but it’s a Spanishism that were erroneously imposing. The nahuatl word is tamalli; singular tamale honors the root. — Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 11, 2018

Is it possible that the seemingly bastardized English word for a single tamal has actually been the correct way to say it all along? As Bogado notes, in the language of the Aztecs, it’s been tamalli — or “tamalé” — all along.

Tamale, even if it makes you cringe, is not technically wrong. It’s both a bonafide entry in the Oxford English language dictionary, and is listed as singular in the Associated Press Stylebook, which is the omnipotent bible journalists strive to follow on a letter-by-letter basis.

The reasoning is that tamale is the English translation or anglicization of the word tamal, and it’s a lonely distinction. Most other famous Mexican dish changes do not change when they make the journey to an English speaking country. A taco is a still a taco, a tostada a tostada, a sope a sope, an enchilada is an enchilada, and so on. All of this still doesn’t change the fact that hearing it or reading it makes a lot of us, who grew up eating them and asking our mamás and abuelas nicely for one more tamal, cringe.

RELATED: Tamales are Christmas: Here is Where to Find Good Tamales in L.A. to Celebrate the Season

I asked Mr. modern Mexican cuisine himself, chef Enrique Olvera, what team he is on and how he presents the dish in both his Spanish and English menus at his 15 internationally renowned restaurants. (It’s soon to be 16, with his new restaurant in Los Angeles opening in 2019.)

“I am on team tamal,” he confirmed via email. “That is how we write it in Spanish and tamale just sounds weird.” Olvera also won’t go out of his way to correct you if you say tamale in front of him. “Maybe when I am older I will become more grumpy, but for now let people call tamales what they want.”

However if you are in front of chef Carlos Salgado, the pioneering Mexican-American, James Beard Award semi-finalist of Taco Maria in Costa Mesa – it’s a different story.

“I’ll correct anyone, kindly,” he tells me over the phone while he prepares tamales for this holidays season using chalqueño heirloom corn from Mexico for his masa. It’s not too much of a surprise considering his active Twitter account.

This year, he’s making chicken in mole tamales with shmaltz and duck fat in the masa; pork in green chile ones with lard from responsibly raised pigs in that masa; and a vegetable one with poblano rajas, raclette cheese with cultured butter, and creme fraiche in that masa.

Salgado is forgiving if it is an honest mistake.

“You usually get a sense pretty quickly of people who generally respect language and food but don’t know any better and those who are saying it as a way of exotifying and folklorizing something that doesn’t need to be exotic or folkloric,” he says.

He admits that he is not a linguistic scholar and hasn’t studied all of Mexico’s regions, but in his view, tamale should always be tamal. Although he admits that as he’s gotten older, he’s chilled out a bit.

“In my maturity, I try to not engage with as many people as I used to about this. After all, I’m not interested in pushing people away. I’m interested in people just respecting people and culture and eating tamales.”

But what are your thoughts on the masa matter if you’re a Mexican food enthusiast but not a native speaker of Spanish? You’ll probably use tamale proudly because you don’t speak Spanish, so why pretend that you do?

“You know there’s the right way to pronounce mozzarella or croissant but if you do that as a non-native speaker you can sound more pretentious or annoying than if you just use the accepted non-native incorrect pronunciation,” says Brett Adams, the founder of the Mas o Menos taco pop-up series in Portland, Oregon.

Then you have the people who were born a “tamale” and have grown into “tamal,” or the other way around. Like Melissa Montalvo, a third-generation Mexican-American who was born in Moreno Valley, raised in Arizona, and now lives in Guadalajara working for Agave Lab, a startup incubator.

“It’s a process,” she says over Instagram in a poll I conducted on the matter, in which 131 people voted for tamal and only 43 followers voted for tamale. “I grew up not speaking tons of Spanish so tamal-ee was what I knew! But now I’m adapting to tamal in Guadalajara, but still use them both interchangeably.”

Same with Taco USA author Gustavo Arellano, who has evolved over the years and come a long way from 2011 when he wrote that the word “tamale” was a case of “outright mongrelization” and that we shouldn’t “allow Manifest Destiny to claim another Mexican culinary icon ala chili.”

A quick check-in with him in 2018 reveals that Arellano is now of the “IT’S BOTH, MY FUCKING GOD” school of masa thought.

RELATED: The True Story of How National Taco Day Was Invented — Then Appropriated

“People tend to get attached to the way they’ve been taught to say words in español at home,” says Elizabeth Flores, an editor at Cultura Colectiva, based in Mexico City. She is a professional translator and has translated more than a dozen books from English to Spanish and the other way around. Some are about food, like this one about tomatoes for Fundación Grupo México.

According to her, the “tamal vs. tamale” debate has “an almost emotional connection” with people simply because it becomes a “how my family speaks the language vs. how it’s ‘supposed to be’ written” type of language conflict. In a culture like Mexico, where family always comes before anything, it makes sense that people will go with what feels familiar rather than what they are expected to say.

As for the fact that it sounds a whole lot like the original Náhuatl word for tamales, Flores confirms that it’s a case of true irony. Yes, tamale phonetically sounds exactly like the original word, but it is wrong in Spanish.

RELATED: An Ode to Oaxacan L.A. ~ Friday Nights at Poncho’s Tlayudas

The one thing that everyone can agree on regardless of race, language, or background, is to continue eating tons of tamales and just use the form that is the most comfortable to you. Language is always evolving and no one really has any control over it, so there is not much use in trying to confine such a transient thing to rules.

Olvera feels the same. “I think we should not only be tolerant but accepting of [tamal vs. tamale] diversity and let freedom rule the world.”

As for me? I’m still team tamal because my Mexican wife will crucify me if she ever hears me code-switch into tamale while speaking English. But really, all of this is pointless because who the hell only eats one tamal or tamale anyway? Its singular form is almost irrelevant.

This post was originally published on December 2018.

ALSO BY AUTHOR:

The Harsh Reality: Why This High Profile Chef Helped Her Employee’s Relative Escape El Salvador

In Defense of the $5 Taco: It’s Time to Embrace Our New Reality

How to Tell You’re Eating a Fake Blue Corn Tortilla: Kernel of Truth Organics Has a Mission

Like this article? We’re member supported and need your help to keep publishing stories like this one. You can contribute any amount you like, or join our membership program and get perks, event access, merch, and more. Click Here to Support L.A. TACO

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how to pronounce tamale

Tamale – Wikipedia

How To Say Tamale – YouTube

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales – L.A. TACO

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales – L.A. TACO

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales – L.A. TACO

How to pronounce Tamale in Spanish | HowToPronounce.com

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Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales

Tamal or Tamale? ~ How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales

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