Guajolota

A whole tamal put inside a bread roll, and the roll hollowed out properly to take it.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken, chicken stock, lard.

Ingredients

• 4 bolillos, as on their own page
• 4 tamales, warm, as on their own page
• 200 ml salsa verde, as on its own page
• 200 ml salsa, as on its own page

Method

1. A WHOLE TAMAL IS PUT INSIDE A BREAD ROLL, AND THE ROLL IS HOLLOWED OUT PROPERLY TO TAKE IT. That is the entire dish and the only difficulty is the hollowing. A tamal is a solid cylinder of masa four or five centimetres thick, and a bolillo split in two has a fat belly of crumb in each half; put the one inside the other without removing anything and the roll will not close within five centimetres, and what is being eaten is mostly bread. A real handful of crumb pulled out of each half -- more than for a torta -- leaves two thin shells that close around the tamal almost flat, and then the proportion is right: mostly tamal, with just enough bread to hold it.
2. THE TAMAL GOES IN UNWRAPPED AND WHOLE. The husk comes off and the tamal goes in in one piece, not sliced or crumbled. Sliced, it falls out of the ends as the roll is bitten; whole, it holds together as a single block.
3. THE CRUMB IS PULLED, NOT CUT, AND MORE COMES OUT THAN SEEMS RIGHT. Fingers, in rough tufts, until the shells are about a centimetre thick. It looks like too much bread removed and it is correct -- the test is whether the roll closes with the tamal inside it.
4. NEITHER PART IS COOKED AGAIN AND BOTH GO IN HOT. The tamal comes out of the steamer and goes straight in; the bolillo is warmed in the oven for a couple of minutes if it is not fresh. Nothing is griddled, pressed or fried, which is the difference from a torta -- there is no cheese to melt and nothing that needs sealing.
5. THE SALSA GOES IN AT THE END AND IN A SMALL QUANTITY. A spoonful or two drizzled over the tamal before the lid goes on. There is a great deal of masa in this and nothing else wet, so some salsa is needed -- but the hollowed crumb is exposed on both faces and a generous pour soaks straight through the shell.
6. The tamales steamed as on their own page and kept HOT in their husks.
7. The bolillos warmed 2 to 3 minutes in a hot oven if they are not freshly baked.
8. Each roll split horizontally, not quite through, so it hinges.
9. A REAL HANDFUL of crumb PULLED out of EACH half with the fingers, leaving shells about 1 cm thick. More than for a torta.
10. A tamal UNWRAPPED and laid WHOLE into the lower shell.
11. CHECKED: the roll should close over it almost flat. If it gapes, more crumb comes out.
12. A spoonful or two of salsa drizzled over the tamal -- not more.
13. The lid closed and pressed down gently by hand.
14. Eaten at once, in the hand, while the tamal is still hot.
15. Not griddled, not pressed, not fried.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes