Letter from the Editor

At my husband’s first Christmas with my family, he was quickly put to work helping us make tamales.

I promise we weren’t hazing him. Rather, we follow the tradition of a tamalada (a social gathering to make tamales) to make our holiday meal.

This means all hands are on deck, and everyone has a simple task to make the daunting work of making tamales a little more approachable.

Someone makes the masa (always my mom, let’s be real), someone spreads the masa on the corn husks, someone adds the filling, and someone folds. For the littles, they may tear up strips of corn husk to tie around the rolled tamales (see picture).

As it turns out, this tradition doesn’t just make the task of making tamales lighter work. It helps set up families for healthy habits and keeps cooking traditions alive.

This is a perfect example of the intersection of nutrition, culture, and community that we talk about here at Nutrition con Sabor. And that’s why I think tamales are such a powerful cultural symbol, and I wanted to make this issue dedicated just to tamales.

We’ve got several recipes for tamales (and tamal fillings), but we also have nutrition facts, an overview of different types of tamales you’ll find in Latin America, and of course a deep dive into the unique role of the tamalada in Latino culture and health.

I hope exploring this issue helps quiet down any fears you have around holiday food, and lets you sit back and enjoy the memories you’re creating all season.

Con cariño,
Krista