Tamal en cazuela

Ingredients

The corn

• 8 earsfresh corn
• grated or blended
• or 400 g masa harina
• plus 1 litre water
• or 600 g frozen corn

The pork

• 600 gpork shoulder
• cut into small cubes
• 150 gbacon or ham
• diced
• salt and black pepper

The sofrito

• 2onions, chopped
• 1green pepper, chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoonstomato purée
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• 1 teaspoondried oregano
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• or lard

To finish

• 1 teaspoonachiote
• or paprika, for colour
• a splash of dry white wine
• optional
• extra stock or water

Directions

1. Blend the kernels with a little water. It goes from soupy to genuinely thick. Use a deep pot and a long spoon. Thick porridge holds heat for a long time. Keep the heat low once it thickens. Stand back from the pot as you stir. The pork must be cooked right through. Keep raw and cooked pork well apart. Grate the fresh corn from the cobs.
2. Stand the cob upright in a large bowl. Grate down it on a coarse grater. Work all the way round the cob. Do not waste any of it at all. Hold the cob firmly at the top. Stop grating before your hand reaches the blade.
3. Use the knife scrape for the last of it. Cut the kernels off the cob with a knife. Blend to a rough pulp rather than smooth. Strain the corn pulp through a sieve. Brown the pork cubes in hot oil. Get the oil genuinely hot first. Brown them well on all of their sides. Work in batches rather than crowding.
4. Add the diced bacon or ham to the pot. Cook it until it renders and crisps. Give it about five minutes in the pot. Add the onion and pepper to the pot. Cook them for about ten minutes until soft. Stir so that residue comes away entirely.
5. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano. Garlic burns and turns bitter within a minute. Crush the oregano between your fingers first. Add the tomato purée and the fresh tomatoes.
6. Fry the purée for two minutes first. Cook them down for about ten minutes. Stir the achiote or paprika into the pot. It gives the dish its warm orange colour. Stir the corn pulp into the pot. Add it gradually while stirring constantly. Keep stirring right through the addition.
7. Add water or stock to loosen it. It should be soupy at this stage. Keep hot water ready to add more. Simmer the pot gently for about an hour. That cooks the pork until tender. Stir it every few minutes without fail.
8. Keep the heat low right through the cooking. A heat diffuser helps considerably. Add hot water whenever it becomes too thick. Add it a ladleful at a time rather than all at once. It should stay stirrable throughout. Taste it before deciding it is done. Cook it longer if it still tastes raw.
9. Season the pot generously with salt. Taste carefully and adjust properly. Splash a little dry white wine in. Let it cook for a few minutes after. Let the pot rest off the heat briefly. Ten minutes of resting is quite enough.
10. Spoon it into deep bowls to serve. It is served hot in generous portions. Make sure each bowl gets plenty of pork. Stir the pot well before serving it. It keeps three days refrigerated in a covered bowl.

Technique

• Thick corn porridge bubbles heavily and spits, and those spits are hotter and stickier than boiling water and burn badly. Use a deep pot, stir with a long spoon, keep the heat low once it thickens and stand back from the pot.
• Stir it every few minutes without fail, scraping the base firmly — corn porridge catches on the bottom instantly and a burnt patch ruins the whole pot. Keep the heat low throughout; a heat diffuser helps considerably.
• Grating a corn cob risks grated knuckles: hold the cob firmly at the top, stop before your hand reaches the blade and use a knife scrape for the last of it. Cutting the kernels off and blending them is faster and genuinely safer.

Substitutions

• Masa harina with water, or frozen corn kernels blended, replace fresh corn when it is unavailable — masa gives a smoother more uniform result but lacks the sweetness of fresh, which the atlas records honestly. Paprika replaces achiote for the warm orange colour.
• Some cooks strain the tough kernel skins out of the corn pulp for a smoother dish and others leave everything in for texture; both are genuinely done in Cuba.

Variations

• This is the same mixture as a leaf-wrapped tamal cooked in one pot instead, which avoids filling, folding and tying each one. It is a shortcut rather than a lesser dish, eaten in its own right across Cuba as a main course, and the atlas records it as its own dish.
• Scrape each cob thoroughly with the back of a knife after grating: that releases the remaining milk, which carries the starch and sweetness the dish depends on.
• It should end up thick but still spoonable, with a spoon standing up briefly, and it thickens further as it cools — add hot water a ladleful at a time to keep it stirrable. Taste before deciding it is done, since undercooked corn tastes chalky and raw and that only disappears with enough cooking.

History

A Cuban shortcut to the leaf-wrapped tamal, cooking fresh ground corn and pork together in one casserole; it is served as a main course.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tamal en cazuela?

Tamal en cazuela is a main from Cuba: soft corn porridge cooked with pork in a pot instead of a husk. A Cuban shortcut to the leaf-wrapped tamal, cooking fresh ground corn and pork together in one casserole; it is served as a main course.

How long does Tamal en cazuela take to make?

Tamal en cazuela takes 30 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tamal en cazuela?

Yes, within limits. Masa harina with water, or frozen corn kernels blended, replace fresh corn when it is unavailable — masa gives a smoother more uniform result but lacks the sweetness of fresh, which the atlas records honestly. Paprika replaces achiote for the warm orange colour. Some cooks strain the tough kernel skins out of the corn pulp for a smoother dish and others leave everything in for texture; both are genuinely done in Cuba.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tamal en cazuela?

Blend the kernels with a little water. It goes from soupy to genuinely thick. Use a deep pot and a long spoon. Thick porridge holds heat for a long time. Keep the heat low once it thickens. Stand back from the pot as you stir. The pork must be cooked right through. Keep raw and cooked pork well apart. Grate the fresh corn from the cobs.