[1] You can have these tamales shipped to you: Beef Tenderloin, Ancho Chile Pork, and Chicken Tomatillo (photo © Mackenzie Limited).

[2] The masa filling is wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf. In a pinch, in the old days, even tree bark was used (photo © Broken Spanish | Los Angeles).

[3] Open the husk and savor the aroma. These pork tamales with red chile guajillo sauce are among the most popular varieties (photos #3 and #4 © Allen Brothers).

[4] A chicken tamale with a side of green mole sauce.

[5] Cooking tamales old-school (today we personally use the microwave (photo © Adolfo Teran Teller | CC0 Public Domain).

[6] Two vegan tamales at CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo © Kat D. via Yelp).

[7] Chicken poblano tamale from CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo © CDC Cocina).

[8] A chocolate tamale from CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo via Happy Cow).

[9] What’s for dinner? Tamales (photo © Andy Hay | Unsplash)!

[10] “Gourmet” tamales at an upscale Mexican restaurant (photo © Broken Spanish | Facebook) .

March 23rd is National Tamale Day, and if we had to pick, tamales might be our favorite Mexican food. And what an ancient food it is! Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 B.C.E. The history of tamales follows, but first:

What exactly is a tamale? It’s a firm dough filling of masa, which is nixtamalized corn*. The ground masa is mixed with water, and other ingredients can be mixed in or used as toppings (photos #3 and #4).

The masa is then wrapped in corn husks (or banana leaves) and steamed.

In fact, the tamale gets its name from the word tamalli, a Náhuatl (Aztec language) word meaning wrapped.

Language lesson: Tamales is plural. One is a tamal in Spanish, although we Americans call it a tamale.
 
 
TAMALE FILLINGS

Beans, cheeses, fish and seafood, meat and poultry, vegetables, chiles, herbs, and spices—just about anything that suits the tastes of the cook and her family.

Pork tamales with red chile sauce are one of the most popular, but beef, black beans, and chicken are also menu favorites.

Different types of sauces are typically served with tamales—enchilada sauce, green and red chile sauces, mole, or whatever the cook wants to pair with the particular filling.

Other toppings are those used for much Mexican and Tex/Mex cuisine: cotija/queso fresco, guacamole, marinated onions, pickled jalapeños, pico de gallo and other salsas, sour cream, and queso.

There are also tamales dulces, sweet tamales. These are made with masa tinted pink with vegetable coloring. The most common recipe simply adds sugar and raisins to the masa.

But sweet tamales can be made with berries and other fruits, chocolate, and many fillings accented with anise seed, cinnamon, or other sweet spices.

Filling types can vary from family to family and from region to region.

Both the filling and the cooking liquid of tamales may be seasoned (source).

> Check out some modern tamale fillings below.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF TAMALES

Tamales were the first dish made from corn in Mesoamerica. Evidence of tamales dates back to the ancient civilizations of [what is now] Mexico, as early as 8000 B.C.E. but certainly by 5000 B.C.E. This makes them one of the oldest known prepared foods in the Americas.

Although the exact beginnings are not known for certain, many historians believe that tamales were first made by the Aztecs. In the millennia preceding cookware, tamales were cooked over hot ashes in a buried fire.

Tamales are thus thought to predate the tortilla, which requires a griddle.

In the pre-Columbian era, Aztecs filled their tamales with whatever foods were available: beans, fish, flamingo, frog, fruits, gopher, honey, rabbit, salamander, turkey, turkey eggs, and squash [source]. Sometimes the masa was eaten plain, with no added filling.

The Aztec and Maya civilizations, as well as the Olmec and Toltec before them, valued tamales as easily portable food. They ate them at the home hearth, of course, but also packed them for hunting trips, for traveling, and for their armies.

Maize was the most important food source in Mesoamerica, and still is a large part of the Central American diet in the form of tamales and tortillas.

Tamales were also considered sacred, the food of the gods. Tamales played a large part in rituals and festivals, offered as religious sacrifices.

For thousands of years, the Mayans worshiped the maize god, Hun Hunahpu. According to the Maya creation story, mankind was actually created from maize dough [source].

Aztec, Maya, Olmeca, and Tolteca civilizations all considered themselves to be “people of the corn.” Corn still plays an important religious and spiritual role in the lives of the Maya people.
 
 
Enter The Spanish

When the Spanish conquistadors reached Mexico in the early 1500s, they brought new ingredients like pork, lard, olives, and raisins, which were incorporated into tamale fillings.

They also brought pots and pans, and steaming the husk-wrapped tamale packets became a more reliable method of cooking.

They also documented tamale-making in indigenous communities, showing its deep cultural roots. Over time, tamales evolved differently in various regions:

 
Later, tamales became a key part of Tex-Mex and Mexican-American cuisine, especially in the southwestern U.S. before spreading nationwide.
 
 
TAMALES HEAD NORTH OF THE BORDER

Tamales were first brought to the U.S. in the 19th century, primarily through Mexican migration and cultural exchange—and much earlier in territories that were part of Mexico, such as Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

The U.S. annexed these parts of Mexico following the Mexican-American War (1846–1848).

From the late 19th to early 20th centuries, tamales gained popularity beyond Mexican communities.

 
 
TAMALES TODAY

With the movement towards more plant-based foods, vegetarian and vegan tamales are on the rise. The menu at CDC Cocina (formerly Casa de Tomales) in Fresno, California features:
 
The Classics

 
Vegetarian

 
Vegan

 
It was the Blueberry & Cream Cheese tamale that started the business on its way, in its first incarnation as Casa de Tomale.

In the fall, the popular Pumpkin Pie tamale, made with pumpkin puree blended with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, makes its appearance. It uses sweet masa with a shaved carrot for added texture and is topped with gluten-free graham crackers.

This should give you the inspiration to create your own tamales, whether on National Tamale Day or any other day of the year.

To start you off, here are recipes for the Pumpkin Pie Tamales and Tomatillo Chicken Tamale with Roasted Corn Salsa (scroll down).

*Nixtamalization is a process that prepares the maize/corn, in which the grain is soaked and boiled in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (calcium hydroxide), and hulled. The nixtamalized corn becomes softer and more flavorful, and when ground, the masa or dough has binding properties that make for great corn tortillas or tamales. Nixtamalization provides several nutritional benefits including increased bioavailability of vitamin B3 niacin, which reduces the risk of pellagra disease. It also engenders increased calcium intake, due to its absorption by the kernels during the steeping process [source 1][source 2].

March 22nd is National Bavarian Crêpes Day. What are Bavarian crêpes? Called palatschinke in Bavaria (the singular is palacinka), these crêpes (some people call them pancakes, but see the next section) are typically made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour. You’ll also see them referred to as Balkan-style crêpes, Croatian crêpes, Hungarian crêpes, Serbian crêpes, etc.

The cooked crêpe leaves the pan, is filled, rolled, and then often garnished—with powdered sugar, fresh fruit or fruit sauce, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, or a combination.

What’s the filling?

It can be as simple as jams or cinnamon and sugar. Some crêpes aren’t even filled. They rely on a sweet or savory topping for their flavor.

Our Nana’s favorite filling was sweetened ricotta with dash of vanilla—a more elegant version of blintzes.

> The history of crêpes.

> The history of pancakes.

> The different types of pancakes.
 
 
CRÊPES VS. PANCAKES: THE DIFFERENCE

Both crêpes and pancakes can be served as a savory or a sweet dish. Here are their differences.

1. Batter. Both include flour, egg, milk, and a dash of salt (some crêpe recipes add sugar). But crêpe batter has more eggs and less flour, creating a much more runny batter.

Thus, when the batter is poured into the pan, it spreads out more—creating its signature wafer-thinness—about a millimeter. Crêpes are delicate, pancakes are sturdy.

2. Size. Crêpes are large in diameter to allow for filling and rolling. Crêpe pans range from 7.5 inches up to 16 inches in diameter, with 10 to 12 inches the most common size.

3. Leavening. The difference between pancakes and crêpes is that pancake batter includes baking powder or baking soda as a raising agent, while crêpe batter does not.

The result is that pancakes rise to their thick and fluffy form, while crêpes remain thin and flat.

4. Resting batter. Unlike a French crêpe, the Bavarian crêpe batter doesn’t need to rest before using. Why does the batter need to rest? For the texture.

Resting the batter allows the flour to fully absorb the milk (or other liquid), and gives the gluten a chance to relax. Relaxed gluten produces more tender, melt-in-your-mouth crêpes.

One reason the original Bavarian crêpe-makers may have skipped this step: The batter needs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BAVARIAN CRÊPES & FRENCH CRÊPES

A Bavarian crêpe/palacinka is a crêpe-like thin pancake common in Central and Eastern Europe, rather than a true crêpe.

The main difference between Bavarian and French crêpe is that the batter is used right away, rather than letting it rest before using. Rested batter produces a thinner result.
 
 
RECIPES TO TRY

[1] Chocolate-filled crêpes a la mode (photo © St. Pierre Bakery).

[2] For wealthy Bavarians: savory crêpes filled with caviar, lobster, and smoked salmon (photo © Caviar Russe | NYC).

[3] French crêpes can be folded rather than rolled. These are the famous Crêpes Suzette (photo © Betty Crocker).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] A bowl of Pink-A-Boo variety pineberries (all photos © Wish Farms).

[2] You can find them at stores nationwide.

[3] Growing on the plant.

[4] Pineberry and poppyseed salad dressing. Here’s the recipe.

[5] Pineberry garnish on a vanilla butter cake. Here’s the recipe.

[6] Top a bruschetta with goat cheese or ricotta. Here’s the recipe.

[7] For breakfast have a pineberry parfait with yogurt, cottage cheese, or ricotta. For dessert, switch to ice cream or pudding. Here’s the recipe.

While there’s a current TikTok craze about “white strawberries” (a.k.a. pineberries), The Nibble first wrote about them in 2014. At that time, they were grown only in Holland, fragile to ship, and not obtainable in the U.S.

But that problem has been solved. A major U.S. grower of conventional non-GMO berries has a plentiful supply of this specialty berry, which they market as Pink-A-Boo® Pineberries.

Wish Farms, the grower, has fields in Florida and California.

Their pineberry variety grows from green bud to white berry, and turns pale pink with red seeds when ripe. Use them any way you would use conventional strawberries.

Don’t worry about running out of pineberries. Wish Farms can deliver them almost year-round. The Florida growing season begins in late November and runs through April. The California growing season begins in January and runs through September.

ALDI is selling a 10-ounce box for only $4.49. Known for its great prices, an Aldi comparison can be found on Reddit, with one poster paying $4.49 at Aldi, while another paid $9 at Sprouts.

> The history of strawberries.
 
 
WHAT ARE PINEBERRIES

Pineberries are a cultivar of strawberries that have a sweet pineapple* flavor note and aroma—thus inspiring the “pine” in its name.

The small strawberries (from 1/2 inch to less than an inch in diameter), which are white and covered with red seeds (achenes), have the same genetic make-up as the common strawberry.

Just as with conventional strawberries, they are a low-calorie food, and a good source of folic acid, phosphorus, and vitamin C. Like all berries, they are heart-healthy, have antii-inflammatory properties, and may help protect against certain types of cancer†.
 
 
THE ORIGIN OF PINEBERRIES

The pineberry originated in South America as a hybrid. Like the modern garden strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa), the pineberry is a hybrid of the wild South American strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), which grows in some parts of Chile, and the North American strawberry (Fragaria virginiana).

The pineberry is the result of cross-breeding, not genetic engineering.

There are multiple subspecies of white strawberries to cross, creating different varieties of pineberries for different growing conditions.

Peek-A-Boo pineberries were developed through natural breeding techniques at the University of Florida, crossing a Japanese white strawberry and a Florida red strawberry.

As with other white varieties, they begin life as green berries (like regular strawberries), then become slightly white instead of red.

So where have pineberries been all this time?

The original varieties weren’t popular with growers because they had a low yield per plant and smaller-sized berries.

While they were very pretty, delicious, and aromatic, they were fragile; it was difficult to ship them. And their growing season was very limited—a brief 4-5 weeks.

Around 2007, Dutch farmers began growing pineberries on a commercial level in greenhouses. They were imported to the U.K., where they would fly off the shelves.

Strawberry growers elsewhere took notice, and began their own production.

Strawberries are a multi-billion dollar worldwide business, and, the market keeps growing.

With so much money to be made, new varieties are constantly being developed, refined, and even engineered by manipulating the genetics of the strawberry plant itself (i.e., GMO) [source].
 
 
STRAWBERRY TRIVIA

 
 
________________

*Depending on the terroir where they are grown, the flavor note can be anything from tropical fruit to apricot. The flavor is influenced by weather, variety, and ripeness when harvested. The Pink-A-Boo pineberry grown in Florida is described by Wish Farms as having hints of pineapple, pear, and apricot.

October 4th is National Taco Day. So why do we need a second holiday, March 21st*, National Crunchy Taco Day? To celebrate hard tacos a.k.a. crunchy tacos. They may merit their own holiday because in Mexico, tacos were traditionally made with soft corn tortillas. While today you can find tacos with flour tortillas, and with hard shells, the original taco had a pliable casing.

(There are also National Fish Taco Day on January 25th and Día del Taco (in Mexico), on March 31st.)

So where did that crispy shell that many Americans associate with a taco come from?
 
 
THE BIRTH OF THE CRUNCHY TACO

No one can say for certain who first fried a soft tortilla and filled it. They appeared in Mexico sometime after the soft version. (Flautas are also a form of crispy tacos that are rolled instead of folded

The tacos with fried, crunchy shells are called tacos dorados, or golden tacos, because frying the soft taco turns the pale tortilla color into the familiar golden one.

The earliest American recipe for hard tacos was published in a California-Mexican cookbook in 1914. A corn tortilla was stuffed with ground beef, sealed, pan-fried, then [wait for it!] smothered it in chili gravy [source].

In the U.S. they are called hard shell tacos or crunchy tacos.

In terms of who popularized the hard shell in the U.S.: Point your finger at Gene Bell of Taco Bell.

When he launched what would become a major American food franchise on March 21, 1962, in San Bernardino, California†, he put crunchy tacos—fried tortilla shells, not soft tortillas—on the menu. (Note the date? It became National Crunchy Taco Day).

Bell was the first taco seller to fry his taco shells in advance (traditionally they were fried on demand).

With all due respect, not all hard-shell tacos taste like Taco Bell, Del Taco, or other chains. A quality Tex-Mex restaurant—whether fancy or a taco truck—will fry them fresh daily.
 
 
CRUNCHY TACOS VS. SOFT TACOS: THE DIFFERENCE

Crunchy tacos, also called hard-shell tacos, are corn tortillas fried into a U shape. Rigid, they are stuffed with meat or seafood, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese (and many add-ons, from guacamole to sour cream).

Some sources call them Anglo-Tacos and/or Cali-Mex cuisine. But you will, in fact, find them in Mexico.

While prefabricated taco shells have a bad reputation, when prepared freshly with care, the Tex-Mex crunchy taco is delicious.

Depending on your point of view, you love the crunch of fried taco shells and don’t care if you end up brushing crumbs and fillings from your clothing.

Or you may prefer a soft taco that wraps around the fillings like a blanket, holding them in when you take a bite.

Soft tacos are much neater—although less textured—eating. With hard tacos, we need a fork to pick up everything that falls out.

We like both versions; although when we really want to crunch away on fried corn tortillas, we order a plate of nachos.

If you’re pining for crunchy tacos, head to a Mexican restaurant that fries them from scratch. With all due respect, Old El Paso hard taco shells are pretty tasteless.

So, hats off to the tasty hard tacos out there: Crunch away!
 
 
> The History Of Tacos

> Breakfast Tacos

> DIY Taco Bar

> Ice Cream Tacos

> Taco Party Menu

[1] Hard tacos, or crunchy tacos, have a rigid shell that is deep-fried (photo © Sirena Gourmet Latin Seafood | San Diego [permanently closed]).

[2] Soft tacos may have grill marks from being quickly heated on a griddle—in fact, they’re more interesting that way (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Gourmet crunchy tacos at ABC Cocina in New York City (photo © ABC Cocina).

*March 21st is also California Strawberry Day, National French Bread Day, National Healthy Fats Day, and National Vermouth Day. It’s the only date we’ve come across that hosts five food holidays.

[1] Mr. Carrots’ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate Almonds (all photos © Omnom).

[2] Mr. Bunny’s friend from the farm, the sheep, delivers a salted-almond chocolate bar.

[3] Introduce the Easter bunny to a unicorn, who brings a caramel chocolate bar.

Instead of a chocolate bunny rabbit, how about something crunchier? Mr. Carrots’ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate Almonds are an Easter-themed confection from one of our favorite chocolatiers, Omnom. Think of them as little Easter eggs (photo #1).

The tropical flavors of mango and passion fruit shout “springtime,” too.

You or your giftee can nibble on these milk chocolate-covered almonds for Easter and beyond.

You can also use the bright yellow nuggets to garnish a cupcake or ice cream.

The acidity of the passion fruit and the fruitiness of the mango accent the velvety texture of the milk chocolate and the salty toasted almond. DEE-licious!

> Get your Mango-Passion and Milk Chocolate Almonds here.
 
 
CHOCOLATE BARS FOR EASTER

The Easter-themed sheep (well, he’s the father of the Easter lamb) covers a milk chocolate bar with almonds (photo #2).

His friend, the unicorn (photo #3), is welcome at any holiday celebration. For Omnom, he delivers a milk chocolate bar with caramel bits. Both bars are among Omnom’s best sellers.

Omnom is a Nibble Top Pick Of The Week, and everything we’ve tried has been rave-worthy.

There are nine flavored chocolate bars, four single-origin bars, three flavors of malt balls (“crunch balls”), and other delights.

> Check out all the Omnom confections.
 
 
ABOUT OMNOM CHOCOLATE

Omnom may just be the most delicious artisan food in Reykjavik, Iceland. The bean-to-bar artisan line is so wonderful that we put Reykjavik on our destination list.

Each bar has a beautifully designed wrapper that embraces an animal from Scandinavian folklore. The designs are so enchanting that we haven’t thrown out the empty wrappers. We’ll re-purpose them for something nice.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

> EASTER EGG HISTORY