Yummy Nacatamales

When we moved to Managua in 2005, I had never heard of Nacatamales! Tamales, yes, but nacatamales, no . . .

So I had a real treat when I tasted my first delicately flavored chicken nacatamale. We went to Sampson's one morning and had a choice between chicken and pork. It was scrumptious!

When we left Nicaragua, I decided to take nacatamales back with me -- hoping that all my friends and relatives would enjoy them as much as we had. So some very expert chefs, my friends Martha, Chilo and Jose gave my daughter, Lilia, and me a lesson. It was great fun, but I'll have to admit that the long and arduous process will never be repeated by me! It was so complicated and time consuming that I decided I would always go to the mercado or the neighborhood nacatamale shop to get what I needed!


But the batch that we did make that day was duly mixed, patted, wrapped, and cooked. They were then frozen and packed into my suitcase for the trip to the US. Nicaraguan customs seemed very amused when I explained what these funny frozen lumps were in my luggage, and the US customs didn't even blink an eye! So all my family and friends received a small taste of Nicaragua.

Below, Chilo takes her turn watching over the boiling nacatamales.






Below, almost finished and ready to eat!