Cultural Traditions And Injustice In Hispanic Culture

Cultural traditions are found in many households. In Hispanic culture, tamales, corn-based dough wrapped in corn husks filled with meat, are regarded as a holiday treat. Usually, tamales are made twice a year for Christmas and New Year’s. A traditional tamale recipe consists of several steps, and can take two days to get to. The process includes prepping, preparing, and steaming. The process begins with prepping the meat, and will take place on the first day of this two day process. When making tamales, a pork “Boston Butt” or a beef “Bottom Round Roast” are great choices for the meat filling. These two types of meats can be found at a local grocery store. The factors for the meat vary from person to person, but the traditional ingredients consist of onion, garlic, …show more content…
Once the meat is finished, shred the meat using two forks, and reserve some of the broth for an additional step. On day two, simmer the cooked meat on the stove while prepping the remaining recipe items. Next, soak the corn husks for at least thirty minutes in hot water. It is ideal to purchase precut corn husks also from a local grocery store. The corn husks are significant because it holds the tamales together while allowing the steam to penetrate. While the meat is simmering and the corn husks are soaking, the next step is to make the “masa”. “Masa” is another name used for Maseca corn flour. Likewise, this can be found at a local grocery store. To make the “masa” the ingredients as follows: four pound bag of Maseca corn flour, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, lard, and the reserved broth. Add the ingredients in the following order to accomplish the correct dough consistency. First, pour in corn flour and add a pinch of the dry ingredients. Mix the “masa” with clean hands to evenly distribute the seasonings. Next, add a handful of lard to the mixture and evenly fuse with hands or use a mixer. Lard or any other type of fat is necessary due to aiding softer