#11: Learn to Make Tamales

Tamale in Process

Learning to make tamales was on my original list for the 40x40 project. I love them but have always heard what a labor of love they are to make. I wanted to experience that for myself, so my husband and I signed up for a tamale class at Central Market.

We dropped the kids off for open tumbling at their cheer gym and were excited to enjoy a mini date at the cooking school. Once we got there, washed up and put on our aprons, the instructors introduced themselves and asked all of the participants to share why they joined the class. My answer was simple, “I’ve just always wanted to learn how to make tamales.”  The head instructor chuckled and responded, “Well, you’ll never want to make them again after this. They’re so not worth all of the effort.”

And with that, my enthusiasm was deflated. In my head I was thinking, “Can we please have our $120 back?” Seriously, I have no problem putting in a little effort for great food, but if that’s the instructor’s attitude, why do they even offer the class?

Anyway, I brushed it off and focused on learning the proper way to lay the corn husks, press the masa and add the chicken and pork mixtures. I was a little disappointed that much of the pre-work was already done since I really was hoping for the made-from-scratch experience, but I guess that was necessary given the two-hour time frame.

Rick enjoying the wine
and borracho beans

Once we prepared the tamales and the instructor took them to the steamer, the class gathered around a table where we were served wine and an appetizer of borracho beans. We listened to the teachers describe how they made the beans. Again, that was a little disappointing since I was expecting a hands-on class, but the flavors were so amazing that I quickly got caught up in reading the recipe and thinking about how I could replicate the taste at home…and that’s when the entire night changed.

I pulled out my phone and noticed a missed call and voicemail from the cheer gym. Maya had an accident on the trampoline. Of course as a parent there’s always an initial panic when you hear something like that, but in all honesty, I wasn’t overly concerned. Maya is a bit accident-prone and this wasn’t the first time we were contacted about an incident at cheer. I encouraged Rick to stay at the cooking school while I ran over to check things out.

Maya's disfigured arm...ouch!

It turned out to be a much bigger deal than I expected. Maya had actually dislocated and fractured her elbow. Needless to say I never made it back to tamale class. Instead we rushed from an urgent care clinic to Cook Children’s Hospital in downtown Fort Worth where at about 1 AM Maya had the first of several surgeries to repair her elbow.

Rick stayed thru the end of the class since he was stranded there without a car and met up with us on the way downtown. At least he was able to bring home samples from the class and I did get to try one of the tamales the next day.

Experience #11 definitely did not go as planned. I did learn a little and the tamales were good, but in hindsight I wish we had stayed home and had a family movie night on the couch that evening. It could have saved a lot of pain, drama and expense.