Destination
Bogota
The story
The tamal antioqueño is the Paisa version of Colombia's tamal tradition, and it's a beast: substantially larger than the Bogotá santafereño, wrapped in dark green bijao leaves rather than banana, and packed with a longer list of ingredients (pork, chicken, chorizo, chickpea, a soft-boiled egg, rice, potato, carrot, peas, all bound with a thick yellow corn masa spiked with hogao). Steamed for four hours over a big open pot, brought to the table whole, unwrapped with a knife. Sunday-morning breakfast across Antioquia, the coffee-growing region and Medellín.
Method
In a large bowl, toss the pork, chicken and chorizo with the spring onions, garlic, cumin, achiote, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
Transfer the meats and marinade to a large pot. Cover with 2 litres of water. Bring to a simmer and cook 45 minutes. Lift the meats out, keep in chunks (pork and chorizo) or shred (chicken, discarding bones). Strain the cooking liquid and reserve.
Warm the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Sweat the red onion, tomato and spring onion 8 to 10 minutes until soft and jammy. Off the heat, stir in the coriander and salt.
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt, cumin and achiote in the warm reserved cooking liquid. Slowly add the masarepa, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it forms a thick, spreadable paste (like porridge). Add the oil and mix well.
Set out the meats, chickpeas, cooked rice, cubed potato and carrot, peas, hard-boiled eggs, hogao and softened leaves. Have string at hand.
Lay a leaf shiny-side down. In the centre, spoon a ladle of masa and spread into a rectangle about 20cm x 12cm. On top layer: 2 pieces of pork, a handful of shredded chicken, half a chorizo, 2 tbsp of chickpeas, 1 tbsp of rice, 3 cubes of potato, 2 cubes of carrot, a spoon of peas, 2 slices of egg, and 2 tbsp of hogao spooned over everything.
Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling, then the ends, into a rectangular parcel about the size of a large book. Tie tightly with string, both lengthways and crossways, so it holds shape through 4 hours of steaming.
Set a rack in the bottom of a very large pot. Add water to just below the rack. Stack the tamales on the rack loosely. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and steam over medium-low heat for 4 hours, topping up the water every 45 minutes.
Lift out the tamales, rest 10 minutes (they're molten hot inside). Serve one per person, in the leaf, and let each person unwrap their own at the table. Bread or arepa on the side, hot chocolate to drink.
Tips
- Bijao leaves are traditional but almost impossible to find outside Colombia. Banana leaves are the standard substitute and give an excellent finished tamal (slightly less grassy, still perfumed and beautiful).
- Marinate the meats overnight. This is what gives Paisa tamales their deep flavour. Four hours is the absolute minimum; overnight is standard in Antioqueño kitchens.
- Warm reserved cooking liquid, not water, for the masa. The stock from cooking the meats is what carries all the flavour into the masa. Using plain water gives you a paler, less savoury masa layer.
- Tie tightly, both directions. Two lengths of string per tamal (one lengthways, one crossways) is what holds the parcel through 4 hours of steaming. Loose ties give you leaking tamales.
- Freeze leftovers. Steamed tamales freeze beautifully wrapped in cling film. Reheat from frozen in a 180°C oven for 45 minutes, still in their leaves. Best Monday breakfast in Medellín.
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