Mississippi Delta Hot Tamales
Small, spicy beef tamales with a gritty cornmeal dough, tied in bundles and simmered upright in a pot of seasoned water, then served with the juice thickened into a sauce.
Delta hot tamales are their own thing. The Southern Foodways Alliance, which documented them in its Hot Tamale Trail oral history project, says most Delta cooks prefer cornmeal to masa for its rough texture, season the meat, the meal and the water, and simmer the tamales instead of steaming them; they are smaller, grittier and spicier than Latin tamales and come with the leftover juice (Amy C. Evans, SFA:). Where they came from is DISPUTED. The SFA lists Mexican laborers who came for the cotton harvest in the early 1900s; soldiers coming home from the U.S.-Mexican War; the mound-building Mississippian culture; Sicilian immigrants in Greenville; and an African American cornmeal dish called cush. Wikipedia says local historians consider the African American adaptation of tamales made by Mexican migrant workers the most likely).
The tamales are in the blues: Red Hot Ole Mose recorded "Molly Man" in 1928, and Robert Johnson recorded "They're Red Hot" in 1936 (SFA). Greenville calls itself the "Hot Tamale Capital of the World" and holds a Hot Tamale Festival every October (Wikipedia). Today African Americans are the primary keepers of the tradition, the SFA says.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Small, spicy beef tamales with a gritty cornmeal dough, tied in bundles and simmered upright in a pot of seasoned water, then served with the juice thickened into a sauce.
🇲🇽 The original
The Mexican original is fresh masa beaten with lard, spread on soaked corn husks around pork in red chile sauce, folded and steamed until the masa pulls away from the husk. See the Red Chile Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos de Puerco) recipe.
🗳️ Mexican tamales or Mississippi Delta hot tamales? Vote: Mexican tamales vs Delta hot tamales →
Why it works the kitchen science
Spice in three places
The same mix goes into the dough, the beef and the water, so the tamales taste seasoned all the way through, the way the SFA describes Delta cooks doing it.
Baking soda and dough in the beef
Baking soda keeps ground beef moist and tender as it cooks, and kneading in some of the cornmeal dough helps the filling hold together (ATK).
Step by step
- Step 1
Soak the husks in hot water about 30 minutes, until pliable. Stir the spice mix ingredients together.
- Step 2
Pulse the cornmeal and baking powder in a food processor 3 times. Add the butter and 1 1/2 tbsp spice mix and pulse about 8 times, until the butter is in small pieces. Add the 1 1/4 cups water and process about 30 seconds, until a dough forms. Set aside 1/2 cup dough and divide the rest into 24 portions of about 1 1/2 tbsp.
- Step 3
Dissolve the baking soda in 2 tbsp water in a large bowl. Add the beef, garlic, the reserved 1/2 cup dough and 1 1/2 tbsp spice mix and knead by hand until combined. Divide into 24 portions.
- Step 4
Pat a husk dry and lay it smooth side up, long side toward you, wide end to the right. Spread one portion of dough into a 3 1/2-inch square on the lower right corner, flush with the bottom and leaving 1/4 inch on the right. Lay a portion of filling in a log across the center, roll the husk away from you so the dough wraps the filling, fold the tapered end up and set it seam side down.
- Step 5
Stack the tamales in groups of six and tie each bundle with kitchen twine.
- Step 6
Put the remaining spice mix (about 2 tbsp) in a saucepan of at least 4 quarts with sides at least 5 inches tall. Stand the bundles in it, open ends up, and pour in about 5 1/2 cups water, to within 1 inch of the tops; keep water out of the tamales. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer gently about 30 minutes, until the tamales are firm and starting to pull away from the husks.
- Step 7
Lift the tamales onto a platter and cut the twine. Bring the liquid back to a simmer over medium heat, whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook about 1 minute, until slightly thickened. Serve the tamales with the sauce.
Mississippi Delta Hot Tamales
Serves 6 (4 tamales each) · 24 tamales · 1 hr 45 min total
Spice mix
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp table salt
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Dough
- 24 dried corn husks
- 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) yellow cornmeal
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
- 1 1/4 cups water
Filling
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 lb 85% lean ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Simmering liquid and sauce
- About 5 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
Method
- Soak the husks in hot water about 30 minutes, until pliable. Stir the spice mix ingredients together.
- Pulse the cornmeal and baking powder in a food processor 3 times. Add the butter and 1 1/2 tbsp spice mix and pulse about 8 times, until the butter is in small pieces. Add the 1 1/4 cups water and process about 30 seconds, until a dough forms. Set aside 1/2 cup dough and divide the rest into 24 portions of about 1 1/2 tbsp.
- Dissolve the baking soda in 2 tbsp water in a large bowl. Add the beef, garlic, the reserved 1/2 cup dough and 1 1/2 tbsp spice mix and knead by hand until combined. Divide into 24 portions.
- Pat a husk dry and lay it smooth side up, long side toward you, wide end to the right. Spread one portion of dough into a 3 1/2-inch square on the lower right corner, flush with the bottom and leaving 1/4 inch on the right. Lay a portion of filling in a log across the center, roll the husk away from you so the dough wraps the filling, fold the tapered end up and set it seam side down.
- Stack the tamales in groups of six and tie each bundle with kitchen twine.
- Put the remaining spice mix (about 2 tbsp) in a saucepan of at least 4 quarts with sides at least 5 inches tall. Stand the bundles in it, open ends up, and pour in about 5 1/2 cups water, to within 1 inch of the tops; keep water out of the tamales. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer gently about 30 minutes, until the tamales are firm and starting to pull away from the husks.
- Lift the tamales onto a platter and cut the twine. Bring the liquid back to a simmer over medium heat, whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook about 1 minute, until slightly thickened. Serve the tamales with the sauce.
Adapted from Christie Morrison, "Delta Hot Tamales", Cook's Country (America's Test Kitchen), March 30, 2014. Amounts, the food processor dough, the baking soda in the beef, the bundles of six and the 30 minute simmer are ATK's. ATK serves 6 to 8; we call it 6. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- ATK says there is no need to take the tamales' temperature; cooked as written they reach a safe temperature (the beef simmers well past 160°F).
- ATK also published a version wrapped in parchment paper instead of husks; some Delta cooks use paper too (SFA).
- Some Delta cooks now fry their tamales (SFA).
- In the Delta the singular is "tamale", never "tamal" (SFA).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Mexican cotton workers brought tamales to the Delta in the early 1900s. Disputed: Wikipedia says local historians think this most likely, but the SFA also lists the U.S.-Mexican War, the Mississippian culture, Sicilian immigrants and the African American dish cush.
- Robert Johnson's "They're Red Hot" dates the tradition. Disputed detail: the SFA and Wikipedia's hot tamale article say he recorded it in 1936; Wikipedia's tamale article gives 1937.
- Delta tamales are simmered, not steamed. Documented (SFA; ATK).
- Delta tamales use cornmeal, not masa. Documented as the usual choice (SFA: "most" cooks); some use masa.
- Greenville is the Hot Tamale Capital of the World. Folklore: the city's own title (Wikipedia).
Every other tamale
Red Chile Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos de Puerco)
Pork shoulder simmered down in a smooth guajillo chile sauce, wrapped in light, fluffy lard-beaten masa and steamed upright in corn husks, the central Mexican way.
Green Chicken Tamales (Tamales Verdes de Pollo)
Shredded chicken in a tangy tomatillo and serrano salsa verde, tucked into masa beaten fluffy with lard and chicken broth and steamed in corn husks.
Oaxacan Black Mole Tamales in Banana Leaves
Smooth lard-beaten masa, shredded pork and chicken and a spoonful of glossy mole negro, folded into square banana-leaf packets and steamed for an hour and a half.
Pink Sweet Tamales (Tamales de Dulce)
Sweet masa beaten with whipped lard and sugar, tinted pale pink and studded with raisins, steamed in corn husks and eaten with hot atole or champurrado.
Rajas con Queso Tamales (Poblano and Cheese)
Strips of roasted poblano chile and melting cheese tucked into lard-beaten masa and steamed in corn husks, the vegetarian tamal at every tamalada.
Uchepos (Michoacán Fresh Corn Tamales)
Sweet fresh corn blended with milk, butter and piloncillo, wrapped in fresh green husks from the same ears and steamed until just set, served with crema, cheese and salsa.
Venezuelan Hallacas
Venezuela's Christmas tamal: achiote-gold corn dough around a beef and pork stew with olives, raisins, capers, peppers and chicken, wrapped in banana leaves like a gift and boiled.
San Antonio Christmas Tamales
Long, thin San Antonio tamales with more filling than masa: lean pork simmered with raisins, then cooked in a tomato, green chile and oregano sauce, rolled in husks like cigars for the Christmas tamalada.
New Mexico Red Chile Pork Tamales
Slow-roasted pork shoulder in a New Mexico red chile sauce, with a little of the same sauce beaten into the masa, rolled in corn husks, steamed and served under more red chile.
1918 Tamale Pie
The World War I version of America's tamale casserole: seasoned ground beef, onion and tomatoes baked between two layers of plain cornmeal mush, with no wrapper, no steamer and, in 1918, no chile.
Skillet Tamale Pie
Chili-spiced ground sirloin, black beans, tomatoes and cheddar under a quick cornbread batter, baked right in the skillet in about 15 minutes.
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