ALL ABOUT FOOD:Treat yourself to tamales

It is said that tamales saved Hernando Cortés and his men from starvation in Mexico. When the Aztecs realized that the Spanish soldiers were not high priests of Quetzalcoatl (the god of plenty), they stopped giving the invaders food. Cortés however, had won the love of a woman named Malinche and told her he would have to leave Mexico if his men could not obtain food. Malinche told Cortés to storm the gates of the city on a certain evening. He did, and she led him to a group of her friends who deluged the Spaniards with tamales.

Thus, perhaps, changing history.

The tamale, a fundamental Mexican food, is as varied as Mexico itself, and nearly as old.

It appears in Pre-Columbian history as early as 5,000 B.C., possibly 7,000 B.C.

Women were traditionally taken along in battle as army cooks. As the warring Aztec, Mayan and Incan cultures grew, the demand of readying the corn itself (grinding and slaking it with lime) became so overwhelming a process that a need arose to have a more portable, sustaining foodstuff.

The creative women invented the tamale that could be made ahead and packed, then warmed as needed. There was a time when the fillings included just about anything you could think of, including ant, bee, chocolate, fish, frog, gopher, iguana, mushroom, ox, rabbit, squash blossom, tadpole, turkey and wild boar.

There was dried meat, roasted meat, stewed meat, potato, bean and cheese as well as sweet tamales with pineapple, raisin, berry, banana and pumpkin. The list goes on.

Although many fewer varieties are available these days, our Laguna farmers market has two tamale merchants with distinct styles and as much variety as you could possibly ask for unless you are hankering for iguana or gopher. Both vendors have brought this delicious foodstuff into the 21st century by eliminating lard.

Vera Mercado is a grandmother who learned the art of tamale making from her grandmother.

Because preparing tamales is such a time-consuming process, they are usually made at home only for special occasions, particularly Christmas.

As many family members as possible are involved in the multitude of tasks required to prepare the fillings, the masa and the corn husks (for wrapping). Then, everyone forms an assembly line to put them together.

Vera’s friends always told her that her tamales were the best they’d ever tasted. (Terry agrees. She thinks that this masa is somehow lighter and less greasy, yet wonderfully flavorful.)

“Don’t give them away,” they said. “You should sell them!”

So, in 1999, when Vera got tired of her housecleaning business, she enlisted the help of her four sisters and they made what they thought was a large batch of tamales, about 100, and brought them to the Ramona craft show.

By 11 a.m., they were completely sold out. That convinced her that there was a market for them.

Vera’s team went from craft show to craft show, but the sisters quickly ran out of steam. The business was growing quickly, and Vera needed to find a certified kitchen and new helpers, which she did.

Her customers were frequently concerned about the use of lard, so she decided to find a substitution. She began to use shortening, which gave a creamy taste and a better texture than lard.

She now makes 1,200 tamales a week filled with chicken, beef, pork or cheese with jalapeno. She also makes sweet tamales filled pineapple, raisin, butter and sugar. Every tamale contains one black olive, which Vera says is a California tradition.

At the market, you will also find a variety of cooked salsas, sauces and pickled vegetables in Mason jars as well as fresh tortilla chips fried in vegetable oil.

Vera now does the home and garden show in Las Vegas as well as a number of farmers markets and craft shows. Her daughter and grandson help her with the sales.

One of her sisters was the originator of the salsa recipe but, like other members of the family, found food preparation to be too much work, so she relinquished her secret recipe. She calls Vera “the Energizer bunny.”

Vera wants everyone to know that you don’t get fat from eating too many tamales — you get fat if you eat too much of anything.

Across the market and down the other aisle is the Diaz family’s business: Gourmet Tamales.

These are health-conscious tamales. The founder and chef is Eduardo, who is a vegetarian and learned how to make tamales from his grandmother and his mother. He uses only canola oil in his masa dough.

Eduardo started the business four years ago, and all but two of his seven brothers and sisters work with him.

The family connection continues with his uncle, who owns Valdivia farms, a gourmet produce concession, also at the Laguna farmers market. He provides the Diaz family with all of their vegetables.

You might call these “new-age tamales,” although the extensive variety recalls the early days of tamale making.

Among the 11 vegetarian varieties are spinach-zucchini, potato-cilantro, spicy black bean, feta-jalapeno-corn, chile relleno and sweet corn-poblano-cheese.

The four sweet versions include pumpkin spice, strawberry apple, orange mango and pineapple raisin.

The three chicken tamales are made with breast meat only and are lightly sauced with green sauce, red mole or chipotle. They also make one with pork loin and one with beef.

These tamales are much lighter and focus more on the fillings than traditional tamales. Their salsa are all fresh rather than cooked. Gourmet Tamales are sold only in farmers market all across Southern California.

All the tamales are sold frozen because of health department regulations, even if they were made the day before. You can keep them in the freezer for six toeight months and in the refrigerator for at least one week.

When you are in the mood for tamales, we highly recommend that you buy them at the farmers market, as tamale making is an extremely tedious procedure, and these are reasonably priced.

If you have any leftovers, Terry suggests chopping them up and scrambling them with eggs for an easy brunch dish. Just remember to cook them slowly. Elle tried them that way and loved them, although the slow cooking exhausted her patience. However, don’t worry — they’ll be good no matter how you cook them. Be creative by adding your favorite ingredients.