 | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Guatemala and Mexico |
| Region or state | Mesoamerica |
| Main ingredients | Corn (maize) masa, banana leaves, corn husks |
| Variations | Corunda, guajolota, uchepos, zacahuil |
| Similar dishes | Humitas, pamonha, hallaca |
 | This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used. (November 2021) |
A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves.[1] The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, herbs, chilies, or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned.
Tamale is an anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal (plural: tamales).[2] Tamal comes from the Nahuatl tamalli.[3]
The English "tamale" is a back-formation from tamales, with English speakers applying English pluralization rules, and thus interpreting the -e- as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix -es.[4]
- ^ Daniel, Hoyer (2008). Tamales (1st ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423603191. OCLC 199465927.
- ^ "tamale". English–Spanish Dictionary. WordReference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ^ "tamal". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
- ^ "Origin and Meaning of Tamale". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2018-11-25.