I have eaten tamles with raisins and "dulce de viznaga" they are great 
tasting. If you go to Northern Mexico, don't be surprised to find 
olives in your tamal! ( Sonora) 

John Gonzalez

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Erlinda Castanon-Long" 
<longsjourney@y...> wrote:
> When I was in Mexico for the first time 2 years ago while in 
> Guadalajara our hostess stopped to buy corn tamales from a 
roadside 
> stand that she frequently buys from.  They were pure corn made 
with 
> corn oil, no meat fillers, no sause just pure corn tamale.  I had 
> never seen that before but they were very sweet just as they were.
> 
> As an American born Mexican I was surprised at all the foods I 
> didn't recognize both in Jalisco and Zacatecas.  I did find eating 
> more healthy, cooking much plainer and portions much smaller.  In 
El 
> Durazno, District of Jerez, the white cheese was delivered to the 
> door wrapped in a cloth, the corn tortillas were made by 2 local 
> women who started at 5am and closed at 8:30am.  People came by and 
> bought them by weight including just masa if they wanted to make  
> tamales.  I had never seen corn taken from the husk to a corn 
> tortilla, they let me help since I was family.. they did use a 
> machine to shape and cook them. They typically ate twice a day 
with 
> a very light dinner of chocolate and sweet bread or fruit around 
> 8pm. We were invited for lunch at 3pm and were served potatoes, 
> beans, tortillas, white cheese and a huge platter of cucumbers 
with 
> limes.  Best meal I had in Mexico! They also went to market daily 
> and fruits and veggies were fresh not canned.. we may still have a 
> lot to learn from our 3rd world neighbors..
> Linda

 Mas Tamales
It sounds like what you had to eat were "Tamales de elote" These are 
made from fresh corn instead of dried corn masa which is used  
making the regular tamales.  The secret in tamales is in the 
kneading of the dough, you got to get enough air in it so that they 
will come out fluffy and not hard like a rock. I think Lard is used
like shortening.  Have you ever tried to bake a cake with oil 
instead os shortening?  Tamales made with Manteca are going to be a 
lot tastier than tamales made with oil. Tamales are labor intensive!
that's why they are made during the holidays when families get 
together and there is plenty of help available.

I like to make a comment about your phrase: " as an American born 
Mexican"  Please! Please! people. America is a Continent, it is not 
a country. The name of this country is : The United States of 
America. Mexico can be either, Mexico, Republica Mexicana, and 
Estados Unidos Mexicanos (look on any Mexican currency) I see, hear 
and read in this country's news media references to people from 
south of the border in phrases like:  "coming to America"  They ARE 
in America! If you are born anywhere on this continent, you ARE an 
American.
 
I was also going to make a comment about: "we have a lot to learn 
about our third world neighbor" but somebody already beat me to it. 

Disfrute los tamales, pero con medida...

John  

When I was in Mexico for the first time 2 years ago while in 
Guadalajara our hostess stopped to buy corn tamales from a roadside 
stand that she frequently buys from.  They were pure corn made with 
corn oil, no meat fillers, no sause just pure corn tamale.  I had 
never seen that before but they were very sweet just as they were.

As an American born Mexican I was surprised at all the foods I 
didn't recognize both in Jalisco and Zacatecas.  I did find eating 
more healthy, cooking much plainer and portions much smaller.  In El 
Durazno, District of Jerez, the white cheese was delivered to the 
door wrapped in a cloth, the corn tortillas were made by 2 local 
women who started at 5am and closed at 8:30am.  People came by and 
bought them by weight including just masa if they wanted to make  
tamales.  I had never seen corn taken from the husk to a corn 
tortilla, they let me help since I was family.. they did use a 
machine to shape and cook them. They typically ate twice a day with 
a very light dinner of chocolate and sweet bread or fruit around 
8pm. We were invited for lunch at 3pm and were served potatoes, 
beans, tortillas, white cheese and a huge platter of cucumbers with 
limes.  Best meal I had in Mexico! They also went to market daily 
and fruits and veggies were fresh not canned.. we may still have a 
lot to learn from our 3rd world neighbors..
Linda