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A Tradition of Tamales {UNA Tradición de Tamales}

The Acala family produces many things at Lola’s Homestead, but none is more special than their authentic Mexican tamales.



Written by Leslie Criss | Photographed by Joe Worthem


When members of the Acala family first began showing up at various farmers markets, their goods were welcomed. Included were homemade flour tortillas, Mexican bread (pan dulce), empanadas, salsa, honey, fresh eggs and handcrafted wood pieces. Seasonally, the family also sells homegrown produce.


All the deliciousness is grown, harvested or cooked at Lola’s Homestead, the three-acre farm in Guntown that is a dream-come-true for 60-year-old Renato Acala. The cooking is done by Renato’s wife, Elizabeth, 58, with help from the youngest of their five daughters, Ashley Acala, 23.


At the Tupelo Farmers’ Depot a year ago, a customer named Tom asked Elizabeth if she was Mexican, and if so, why did she not make and sell tamales. Elizabeth took her customer’s suggestion and started selling tamales at the markets.


They aren’t just any tamales, the ones Elizabeth makes twice every week, along with other homemade delicacies from her native Mexico.


“The recipe for the tamales comes from my mom’s family,” Ashley said. “It’s a well-kept secret. If Mom is sick or something, we cancel making tamales until she’s better. They can’t be made without her.”


The family recipe for tamales is not written anywhere. It is well kept in the mind of Elizabeth, who learned from her mother.


“My mother was separated when she was young, left with four children and three nephews to raise,” Elizabeth said, with some assistance from her American-born daughter. “She would stay up all night on weekends to make 40 dozen tamales to sell."


When members of the Acala family first began showing up at various farmers markets, their goods were welcomed. Included were homemade flour tortillas, Mexican bread (pan dulce), empanadas, salsa, honey, fresh eggs and handcrafted wood pieces. Seasonally, the family also sells homegrown produce.


All the deliciousness is grown, harvested or cooked at Lola’s Homestead, the three-acre farm in Guntown that is a dream-come-true for 60-year-old Renato Acala. The cooking is done by Renato’s wife, Elizabeth, 58, with help from the youngest of their five daughters, Ashley Acala, 23.



At the Tupelo Farmers’ Depot a year ago, a customer named Tom asked Elizabeth if she was Mexican, and if so, why did she not make and sell tamales. Elizabeth took her customer’s suggestion and started selling tamales at the markets.


They aren’t just any tamales, the ones Elizabeth makes twice every week, along with other homemade delicacies from her native Mexico.


“The recipe for the tamales comes from my mom’s family,” Ashley said. “It’s a well-kept secret. If Mom is sick or something, we cancel making tamales until she’s better. They can’t be made without her.”


The family recipe for tamales is not written anywhere. It is well kept in the mind of Elizabeth, who learned from her mother.


“My mother was separated when she was young, left with four children and three nephews to raise,” Elizabeth said, with some assistance from her American-born daughter. “She would stay up all night on weekends to make 40 dozen tamales to sell to help provide for our family.”


Her mother used a machine that helped prepare the masa dough, which is too thick for a conventional mixer. That machine has journeyed from Mexico to Chicago to Guntown, where it is still used today.


Renato and Elizabeth’s journey to Guntown took years. They met at a dance in Zacateca, Mexico, and married in 1989. Soon after, they made their way to the United States, first to Chicago, where they lived with an aunt of Elizabeth’s while they did factory work. Renato also worked doing landscaping.


After 23 years in Chicago, Renato was offered and accepted a position as pastor of a church in Hobart, Indiana. Then, in 2021, the family moved to Guntown, where Renato had two cousins. It’s where he found the land where he now farms and raises animals that bring him joy — 25 goats, a couple of cows, “just 90” chickens, some ducks, nine dogs and a cat. It’s where he tends bees, and with the help of his wife, he extracts and harvests honey.

The farm’s name, Lola’s Homestead, came from Renato.


“Lola was a dog, a Chihuahua, my dad had and loved,” Ashley said. “He would always say to that dog, ‘Once I have a farm, I promise I will name it after you.’ And years after he made that promise, he named it after Lola.”


While Renato tends to the outside tasks, Elizabeth is the queen of her kitchen, where she enjoys experimenting. But for making tamales, she uses the same tried-and-true method twice each week.


“Making tamales is very labor intensive,” Ashley said.


Her mother quickly added, “We want everything to be fresh for customers.”


There are different types of tamales. Those made in the Acala kitchen are pork tamales, chicken tamales and vegetable tamales. The meat and/or vegetable filling is encased in masa, a dough made from ground corn. When the tamales are in their elongated rectangular shape, they are wrapped in corn husks.


Elizabeth, in her native tongue, tells her daughter the steps to translate to English. To make 15 dozen tamales, their day in the kitchen begins about 8 or 9 in the morning. Making the salsa may be the quickest step — about a half hour or an hour; two hours to cook the meat; close to an hour to mix the masa; two hours to put all ingredients together.


“Then about 2 a.m., my mom puts the tamales, wrapped in the corn husks, into a big pot where they steam for two hours,” Ashley said.


Making and serving tamales during the Christmas season is a longstanding tradition among Mexican people. And it had been a tradition long recognized in the Acala family — until now.


“When you make dozens of tamales every week to take to the farmers markets and to fill orders for others, you don’t really have the energy to make during the holidays,” Ashley said, with her mother nodding in agreement.


Elizabeth does make bunuelos, a sweet treat of fried dough tossed in cinnamon and sugar, for her family at Christmas.


Still, it’s her tamales people crave. And Elizabeth has no intention of not giving her customers what they want.


“They are made with love,” she said. “I am so happy when people say how good the tamales are. It is like a hug in your heart.”

 

Christmas Tamales

For many Mexican and Mexican-American families, the making and eating of tamales is a longstanding tradition at Christmas. The tradition for most has been passed down for generations.


There are even parties or tamaladas, hosted specifically for family and friends to get together to make tamales during the Christmas season.


The tamale tradition begins before Christmas, on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe commemorating the Virgin Mary’s appearance before Juan Diego, a peasant, in the 16th century. The feasting ends on Jan. 6, Epiphany, the day the three kings visited Jesus after his birth.


Historically, tamales were eaten by the Aztecs, Mayans and Olmecs, and since they were considered a portable food, tamales were eaten by men away for battle or on hunting trips. Additionally, because of the corn flour ingredient, tamales were considered to be sacred food for the gods and were eaten on special occasions.


Today, in addition to Christmas, tamales are also popular at celebrations of birthdays, baptisms, wedding anniversaries, New Year’s Day, the Day of the Dead and other significant occasions. The Mexican comfort food has long been strongly associated with unity, celebration, family, kinship and community.

 

Acala Family Salsa

One key ingredient in Elizabeth Acala’s sought-after tamales is the Chile de Arbol salsa they’re made with. She shares her recipe here. This salsa can be frozen for up to six months.


1 pound tomatillos, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

5 Chiles de Arbol (Tree Peppers), sliced

½ teaspoon salt


In a large skillet, saute tomatillos with garlic until the tomatillos turn yellow or are soft. Set aside on a plate. In same skillet, saute peppers in same skillet (using caution as pepper aroma has tendency to make you cough) until tender.


Remove from heat, and allow the mixture to cool. Once cool, place the mixture into a blender, and add ½ teaspoon salt. Blend well until salsa is very smooth. Drizzle on tacos, chorizo and eggs, or add to chicken tortilla or black bean soup.

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