Tamale lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian

Tamale lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian

Lunch item available at the American Indian Museum in D.C.

The origin of the tamale is contested between historians as many have different ideas as to where it was first conceived in the Americas. Commonly thought, the tamale came from Mexican migrants to the United States in the early 20th century, comprising of corn meal based flour and meat. And before then, the tamale had commonly been eaten as a calorie dense and portable meal by Mesoamerican civilizations thousands of years ago, notably the Aztecs and Mayans. In these civilizations, it may have served as a war ration food for warriors to bring with them during the duration of campaigns against other civilizations and tribes. More so, records of tamale making have been recorded orally in the Amerindian cultures that inhabit the American southeast, notably Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta that go as far back as the first Moundbuilder cultures in that region several centuries before European settlement. Still, the tamale had become a staple food of black Americans and Mexican migrants that worked labor intensive jobs in the early 20th century.

Picture taken by Wikimedia user, Quadell.

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Wikimedia Commons

June 19th, 2005

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