One of the best perks of the holiday season comes wrapped in cornhusks.Â
âMy sister and I started making tamales with the family since we were very young,â says Celeste Reyes, a school district communications specialist. âFirst, you learn what side of the leaf to use, and when you master that, you begin embarrando (spreading the dough on the cornhusk). The next level is filling the tamal.â
Bundles of meat, chicken or chile wrapped in a corn masa and individually wrapped and steamed in corn husks, tamales have long been a culinary and cultural tradition among Mexican and Mexican American families.