Caviar and Codfish

If you love spicy frozen yogurt dishes, a passionate dancer or a friendly person who loves to party, then you might want to check out the annual Indio Tamale Festival on your next trip to Palm Springs in California. This last couple of months,I brought my girl for a night of delectable food and salsa dancing at the most recent version of the Tamale Festival. This is one of a kind event that is only being held in December each year. The dog wheelchair festival unites the entire community together and also one way to start the holiday season. You’ll see snowbirds dancing at the desert during the festival to get away from the bitter cold, an indication that the winter has come. The Tamale Festival started in the year 1992 which celebrated the history and the spicy heritage of the tamale dish. There are various activities and presentations to complement different food choices that focused on the tamale. The pet wheelchair festival became more popular each year because of the number of people who took part in the activities and the number of guests that drove a long way from other places just to celebrate this enjoyable event. Since then it gained the attention of the Americans across the United States and other neighboring countries. The Food Network Glidegear TV just recently featured the event in one of their episodes and broadcasted to over 80 million viewers. It showed a blow by blow activity of the festival. The Indio International Tamale Festival was even ranked as one of the top 10 All American Food Festival in the country. Other international recognition was given by the Guiness World Records for the World’s Largest Camera Stabilizer Tamale and set the record for the World’s Largest Tamale Festival with around 130,000 attendees back in year 2000. We arrived by car and found the grounds easy to get to as both parking and shuttle service are free, which provides a great help and excellent access to the festival. The festival took place in downtown Indio, between Highway 111 and Indio Blvd and filled up the streets of Miles, Towne, Steadicam, Smurr & Requa. The weather hovered around the mid to high 70′s in the day and then dropped into the 40′s when the evening arrived. The festivities always take place in the first weekend of December and begin at 10 a.m. in the morning until 6 p.m.on both Saturday and Sunday. Aside from the number of vendors selling tamale along the streets, the festival also provided a snore mouthpiece shopping area for tourists and guests which featured the Mexican culture and heritage along with the modern products. If you are not into shopping then you would definitely enjoy the activities and other presentations. There are also carnivals which most children and some adults enjoyed and prizes given out for winners. There are also kid’s petting pet wheelchair zoo that would absolutely bring the child out of the adult to come in contact with. You can also enjoy Rock climbing for a little exercise and also to experience exterme sports. Inflatable bounces are also there that will surely make you smile drain you and your kid’s energy in a good way. When it came time to settle in and enjoy the sights, then it was time to join the parade as well as the all too popular Sylvan Microdermabrasion Tamale Eating Contest along with the famous Tamale Judging contest. Festival fans also have the option to relax and watch the diverse entertainment the festival provides that includes traditional Mexican Folklorico Dancing as well as live music on four different stages; the Fiesta Stage, The Amigo Stage, The Mariachi Stage, and the Community Stage. In conclusion, I can definitely say that the Tamale Festival is really a must go in your next best friend mobility trip to southern California. Now here’s a sample of a tamale recipe that you will surely love. I hope once you’ve tried this out, you’ll be convinced to try out other versions of  tamale in the Indio International Tamale Festival.  Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt in 1 piece, trimmed of all but a thin layer of frozen yogurt machine fat , 1 whole head garlic, un-peeled, cut crosswise in 1/2, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 4 large bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt,  Masa: 10 pounds cornmeal flour, 1/4 cup water, 3 heaping tablespoons baking powder, 1/4 cup salt, 4 cups vegetable shortening, boiled and cooled, Chile Sauce: 5 whole dried California chiles, 2 whole dried New Mexico chiles, 2 whole dried pasilla chiles, 2 pounds camera stabilizer tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons salt, 2 cups water (stock saved from boiling chiles and tomatoes), 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, Tamale Assembly: 4 to 6 dozen dried corn husks, Green olives, Potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces, Carrot sticks, peeled and cut into small pieces, Pork Butt: Directions Place pork butt in large Dutch microderm machine oven or medium-size stock pot. Add garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Bring just to a boil on high heat, quickly reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer, partly covered, skimming any froth from the top during the first 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. A piece this size should be well-cooked but not dried out in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from dog wheelchair stock and let cool to room temperature. When cool, pull meat into fine shreds. Strain and degrease the stock. It will be easier to remove fat when thoroughly chilled. Can be kept, tightly covered, 2 days in the refrigerator, if de-greased at once, up to 1 week if you leave the top layer of fat on it until ready to use. The stock also freezes well. In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded pork with the red chile microdermabrasion machine sauce. Masa: Place 10 pounds of masa in a large plastic mixing bowl. Mix 1/4 cup water with baking powder in a cup held over the bowl with the dry masa until it fizzes, then pour mixture evenly over masa. Add 1/4 cup salt and work masa with hands to mix evenly. Melt 4 cups vegetable shortening in a large saucepan and allow to cool. Pour evenly over masa and knead masa with hands again. When it starts to feel thick and compact (like camcorder stabilizer fudge) it’s ready. Pat down in bowl and set aside. Chile Sauce: In a large saucepan, boil chiles and tomatoes together for about 10 minutes or until softened. Drain the chiles and tomatoes and reserve the water (stock.) Set stock aside. Rinse seeds out of boiled chiles at sink. Grind garlic, 2 teaspoons snoring mouthpiece salt and whole cumin with mortar and pestle. Put chiles, tomatoes, 3 additional tablespoons salt and ground ingredients together in blender and blend well. Add 2 cups of the reserved water (stock.) In a heavy, medium-size saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat until rippling. Add flour, stirring constantly until golden. Add strained steadicam chile puree to the pan and reduce the heat to low. It will splatter, so be careful. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the raw taste is gone and the flavor of the chiles has mellowed, about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded pork with the chile sauce. To assemble the tamales, soak dried corn husks in warm water for about 1 hour until soft. Spread masa mixture evenly onto husk using a frozen yogurt wooden spoon. Fill with about 2 tablespoons pork mixture and top with 1 green olive, 1 slice of potato and 1 carrot stick. Fold and tie ends with pieces of corn husk. Steam for 1 and 1/2 hours. To steam: To make a steamer, place a metal rack (such as a cooling rack) in the bottom of a large stock pot or canner. Water level should be below the rack. Lay extra corn husks over rack. Stand the tamales on the folded edge in the video camera stabilizer steamer (the open edge with be facing upward). First fill the bottom of the steamer, then start stacking tamales on top of one another. Place any extra husks on top of tamales, cover with pot lid and steam for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Replenish boiling water if necessary during steaming, time. The tamales are done when the husk peels away easily from the filling.

Posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 4:41 am in Uncategorized   |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.