Hot Tamales!

Each day it seems to get hotter earlier in the day.  I think one of the reasons it feels like this is that the last few days there hasn't been much of a breeze, and when the air doesn't move, it sure feels like the heat is sticking right to you.

So we walk early...  headed to town around 7:30.  Just before leaving, our neighbor, Francine came over to tell us that their, and therefore our, water supply was turned off at 7:00 last evening and isn't expected to be turned back on until possibly tomorrow at the earliest.  Now...  we do have that auxiliary holding tank up on our deck, but let's face it...  55 gallons doesn't really go very far if a person isn't careful.  

Bill e-mailed our landlord about the situation and Robert assures us he'll have water delivered if needed.  Oh well...  we'll deal with it as it plays out.

We walked into town to buy some mahi-mahi.  Or, as it's known here...  dorado.  We haven't seen fishing boats coming in to off load for a couple of weeks...  don't know if the season is over or what.  But we know where there's a very nice "Mom and Pop" fish market just around the corner from the rickety bridge.  

We got our fish...  and headed home...

We're well over half way home when we walk pass a couple of young women who are pushing a bicycle....  they are yelling something...  Bill is first to understand....

 They're selling Tamales!

Oh Yeah...  Hot Tamales!!!

Never one to pass us good local food, we figure out that they are "cerdo" (pork).  We kinda went through the carne, pollo, thing first..  and I don't like mine filled with "papas" (potatoes)....  then got the price sorted out....  1,000 colones each ($2.00 American)....  and.... before you knew it, we were carrying home lunch.

In the southwest USA, and much of northern Mexico, tamales are wrapped in corn husks...

When we lived in the Veracruz area of Mexico, I learned to make tamales using banana leaves as the wrap.

Here in Central America, it's banana leaves.  These were tied with some kind of wire-like binding...  kind of like a twisty....  but I think they probably just used what was available... something that wouldn't fall apart when boiled or steamed.

We got home by 9:30...  I was thinking maybe a mid-morning snack was in order...

But...  no... we waited until our usual lunch time to indulge... 

All those banana leaves makes it look a bit small...

Not so....  you've probably seen those huge Nabisco Shredded Wheat things...  looks kinda like a huge brillo pad?  Well, these were every bit that big, probably bigger.

(tasted much better, too)

Comprised of Masa (corn flour), pork, rice, some potato slices, and a couple of other vegetables....

 then wrapped in the banana leaves and steamed...  blending together all the flavors and tastes.

This is a regular size dinner plate...

You can see that it was a very hearty...  very tasty meal.

I guess both Bill & I qualify for the "clean plate club"....

Bill asked the girls when they usually sold tamales...  according to them they sell on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.  We may have to make a point of finding them again....

UmmmHmmmmm....

Hot Tamales!

That's All For Today!