Hi, it’s Telmo, the Tacolicious chef. I’ve used Joe’s login information to post to this blog. Some day soon he and Sara will find me important enough to grant me access to this site, but for now, you get this disclaimer. I hope you enjoy!
It was New Year’s Day last year when I got my first taste of Ms. Reyes’s tamales. We had closed Laïola to make way for Tacolicious. Standing in the middle of construction and chaos, everyone’s anxiety was palpable. In the middle of all this, Joe received a visit from Saul Peña (a great friend and supporter of the restaurant). Saul, who is from El Salvador, had just come back from his mother’s house in San Rafael and had brought us a few leftover tamales. Lunch was served. In the midst of dust and debris, we feasted on what Saul and his family had been enjoying on special occasions for years.
Joe and I have been thinking about those tamales since that day. But it took until last week for us to get it together to ask Saul to kindly ask his mother, Mrs. Reyes, if she would teach me the fine art of tamale making.
On Tuesday morning I arrived in front of Mrs. Reyes house, quick to greet her with the flowers (that’s right folks, chivalry is not dead!). It worked in my favor because it turns out that Mrs. Reyes loves flowers. They’re everywhere, in her front yard, adorning the interior of her home and mingling with the bounty of fruits and vegetables that she grows in her backyard.
Ms. Reyes and I getting busy in the her kitchen
Mrs. Reyes is small in stature with a sweet voice made that much more pleasant to listen to by her Salvadoran accent. But I quickly learned not to be fooled. Ms. Reyes is one strong woman. She came here many years ago to give her four young boys a better life and, to say the least, succeeded. Not to mention, every time I tried to do the heavy lifting, she would just ever so gently nudge me aside and do it herself. Turns out to make these tamales it takes quite a bit of upper body strength. There’s a lot of stirring involved.
Ms. Reye’s tamales are different than the Mexican variety that is common here, in San Francisco, which are generally a bit heavier and wrapped in corn husks before they’re steamed. In contrast, Salvadoran tamales are wrapped in banana leaves, rarely spicy, and the masa is cooked in a broth. The filling is also a bit different. The tamales that we made were filled with shredded chicken simmered in a tomato-based sauce somewhere in between a sofrito and a marinara, along with pieces of parboiled Russet potato and blanched green beans. Garbanzo beans are also used.
We started off by pulling the meat off of two chickens that had been simmered in a broth flavored with onion, garlic, celery, bell peppers and tomatoes. Next we chopped the blanched green beans and cut the potatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Mrs. Reyes then made a sauce (or gravy as she kept referring to it) using tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, a little of the stock that the chicken was cooked in and tamale spice (ancho chiles, cloves, coriander, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and peppercorns). The sauce was then simmered and the shredded chicken added into the sauce to absorb all of the wonderful flavor. Mrs. Reyes strained the stock into a large pot and then proceeded to work the masa into it until it had all dissolved into the flavorful liquid.
Here’s where the hard work started. The large pot of stock and masa has to then cook until the masa thickens to the consistency of a soft polenta or grits. During this time it has to constantly be stirred so it doesn’t stick or burn or form little clumps. This process took about 30 minutes and even though I’m embarrassed to say that I only did about half of the stirring, it still took a toll on my arms and shoulders. (Chivalry took a back seat here.)
Ms. Reyes amazing tamales are coming to the Mission soon
After the masa had cooled until just slightly warm, we started the assembly of the tamales. On a square sheet of banana leaf, we placed the masa, chicken, potatoes and green beans. All this then went on top of a piece of parchment paper. The trickiest part of the process was wrapping them into a tight, snug little waterproof packages of Salvadoran goodness. After steaming for about 45 minutes, they were done and we got to eat the results. And they were good, really good! The light, fluffy masa had the consistency of a really good gnocchi, and the flavorful filling would have been delicious on its own.
The teacher with her student. Muchas Gracias Señora Reyes!
These amazing little tamales were a ton of work but also a huge reward. I’m grateful for my time in la cocina de Señora Reyes. And lucky for you, we’re going to feature them later this summer at Mosto, our soon-to-open tequila and botanas bar on Valencia Street. Hope to see you there!