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Posts tagged ‘Tamales’

Humitas Ecuatorianas


I’m a little late in posting this recipe for humitas.  Though I read about them weeks ago and made my first batch a couple of days ago, a lot of have-tos (and a few want-tos) have gotten in the the way.  Initially, I didn’t recognize them as the tamales I’d grown up with.  They were of course and they weren’t.  Depending on whether you’re in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela or the Caribbean, they’re known as humitas, humintas, tamales, tamalli, tamalitos verdes, chapanas, bollos, choclotanda, chumales, cachapas, chapanas, chiguiles, envueltos de mazorca, ayacas, hallacas, juanes, pamonhas.  The filling can be sweet or savory, made with fresh or dried corn, plantains or potatoes, wrapped corn husks, banana leaves or parchment paper,  steamed or baked, served as a snack, side dish, casserole or heavy stew. Read more

Rites of Spring

In the two years since it opened, the Brooklyn Flea has gone from a neighborhood novelty to something that I look forward to each year.  I knew it would be crowded but made a plan to meet a friend there when it re-opened its outdoor location in Fort Greene’s Bishop Laughlin Memorial High School this weekend.  Slowly working our way through the aisles, I always go with the same hope, that the stands will be full of new (to market) retro kitchen gadgets and that the Red Hook Vendors will be  there selling pupusas, tamales, grilled corn sprinkled with chile, and agua fresca. Read more