Haven’t heard of this food being available here in Australia, but I might investigate some recipes, as they sound delicious – especially with a bit of sliced chilli!

Thanks again.

“A tamale (Spanish tamal, from Nahuatl tamalli), is a traditional indigenous American food consisting of steam-cooked corn dough (masa) with or without a filling. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheese (post-colonial), and sliced chillis or any preparation according to taste. The tamale is generally wrapped in a corn husk or plantain(post-colonial) leaves before cooking, depending on the region from which they come.

Their essence is the corn meal dough made from hominy (called masa), or a masa mix such as Maseca, usually filled with sweet or savory filling, wrapped in plant leaves or corn husks, and cooked, usually by steaming, until firm. Tamales were developed as a portable ration for use by war parties in the ancient Americas, and were as ubiquitous and varied as the sandwich is today. The diversity of native languages in the pre-Hispanic America led to a number of local words for the tamal, many of which remain in use.”

In short, they involve mashed corn which has been wrapped in corn husks and then steamed. I didn’t include the photo of what they looked like on the inside because it didn’t come out all that pretty, but rest assured they were delicious. Sounds like someone needs to open up a tamale restaurant in Australia so that you can try some!