Elena's Famous Tamales: A Family Tradition

Sunday means tamale day in the Hartwell house, and I’m not being dramatic when I say these are legendary.

Elena’s Famous Tamales: A Family Tradition

Three hours of prep, masa under my fingernails, and enough filling to feed a small army - this is how we do it.

Of course, I can’t work in peace. Sophie’s trying to help fold them properly while asking a million questions about technique, and Theo’s providing running commentary on everything I’m doing wrong according to his very limited tamale expertise.

Sophie learning the family tamale technique while Theo supervises

Marcus is documenting the whole process like I’m some kind of tamale celebrity chef (I mean, I am, but still).

The secret is in the masa consistency and not overfilling them - learned that from watching Abuela Rosa when I was Sophie’s age.

The magic happens in the details - Elena’s tamale technique

Every fold matters, every measurement counts. These tamales are going to disappear in about thirty seconds once they’re ready, but the three hours of work? Totally worth it for the family chaos and the way Marcus looks at me like I just performed actual magic.