Finally got to try out Mexican tamales and liked it. The Lingayen tamales’ origins are clearly from it, but with very distinct variations. The masa dough has the consistency of turkey stuffing, while the Lingayen one uses rice flour (I think) which makes for a smoother texture. There isn’t enough filling in the Mexican one obviously, because of its shape. And what was the white sauce that came with it??? My siblings were all agog over it because we’ve been obsessed with making (Lingayen) tamales ourselves for the longest time. Apparently, our family has the secret recipe.

There’s a Mexican retailer down the road that does a monthly open house where you get to try a whole bunch of Mexican food, including alcoholic drinks, up to the early evening. There’s music and even a bouncy castle where your kids can wear themselves out while you fortified yourself with margaritas (well someone did and it wasn’t even noon). The sweet stuff was a disappointment though. The polvoron wasn’t the polvoron we know back in the Philippines but was an okay shortbread-like cookie; the conchas were just buns with gaudily coloured icing and the perquittos were cute (shaped like a pig), but bland.

I’m planning to attempt making tamales the Mexican way, but incorporating some Lingayen tamales touches like using achuete to colour the dough, and having a bit more stuffing.