The sign here used to say "The Guy on 35 - Hot Tamales" It now says "El Tigre Pollos Asados", so I don't know if they even sell tamales here anymore. Many cultures have something similar to a tamale. The tamales I grew up with, living in San Antonio, were a protein (beef, pork, chicken or refried beans) encased in masa (corn flour dough), wrapped in a corn husk. They are steam cooked. It goes without saying, you always remove the corn husk.
How a Plate of Tamales May Have Crushed Gerald Ford's 1976 Presidential Campaign
Food by VICE By Wyatt Marshall Nov 8 2016.
Gerald Ford was running for a second term in 1976 against Jimmy Carter. At a campaign stop in San Antonio, Texas to visit the Alamo, Ford was offered a plate of tamales. This is where things took a dark turn.
Food on the campaign trail is a minefield for political candidates who have to figure out how to seem relatable enough to try out the local chow while avoiding an embarrassing eating photo. And though not everyone can dive headfirst into a smorgasbord everyday like campaign eating legend John Kasich, politicians can do their best to not pull a Gerald Ford, who, according to former Arkansas Governor and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, may have lost the presidential election in '76 because he didn't know how to eat a tamale.
Gerald Ford was running for a second term in 1976 against Jimmy Carter after attaining America's highest office in the wake of Richard Nixon's resignation. At a campaign stop in San Antonio, Texas to visit the Alamo, Ford was offered a plate of tamales. This is where things took a dark turn.
He picked one up, and, without removing the corn husk, bit right into it. And thus, the Great Tamale Incident of 1976 was born.
The Mayor of San Antonio at the time, Lila Cockrell, told the Houston Chronicle that she thought Ford "just picked up the plate because if someone had given him the plate, the tamales would not have had the shucks… He didn't know any better. It was obvious he didn't get a briefing on the eating of tamales." Veteran CBS news correspondent Bob Schieffer recalls that Ford "nearly choked."
Mike Huckabee, who was living in Texas at the time, said the tamale blunder became a media focal point, and that it may have hurt Ford dearly.
"Every newscast in Texas all weekend long, all they did was show Gerald Ford not knowing how to eat a tamale," Huckabee told Sporkful. "To this day I am convinced that it was that gaffe with the tamale that cost him the state of Texas. Carter won Texas and Carter won the presidency, and it may have been a tamale that did it."
Presidential candidates spend decades developing policy, grooming their images, and working to pass meaningful legislation to fall back on come campaign season. But Ford, who at the time held the most powerful office in the land, may have had his dreams of reelection crushed simply by a tamale no-no.
Perhaps there was some solace for Ford amidst tamale dejection; the tamale in question was in Texas, known for its incredible Mexican food, so once someone showed him how to remove the husk, it was probably pretty good. Now, we'll never know.
FromWikipedia Tamales
A tamale (Spanish: tamal, Nahuatl languages: tamalli) is a traditional Mesoamerican dish, probably from modern-day Mexico, made of masa or dough (starchy, and usually corn-based), which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating, or be used as a plate, the tamale eaten from within. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, chilies or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned.
Tamale comes from the Nahuatl word tamalli via Spanish where the singular is tamal and the plural tamales. The word tamale is a back-formation of tamales, with English speakers assuming the singular was tamale and the plural tamales
Origin
Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 BC.
The preparation of tamales is likely to have spread from the indigenous culture in Mexico and Guatemala to the rest of Latin America. According to archaeologists Karl Taube, William Saturn and David Stuart, tamales may date from the year 100 AD. They found pictorial references in the Mural of San Bartolo, in Petén, Guatemala.
The Aztec and Maya civilizations, as well as the Olmec and Toltec before them, used tamales as easily portable food, for hunting trips, and for traveling large distances, as well as supporting their armies. Tamales were also considered sacred as it is the food of the gods. Aztec, Maya, Olmeca, and Tolteca all considered themselves to be people of corn and so tamales played a large part in their rituals and festivals.