Join Gateway Spanish teachers, Ana Peña and Patricia Lucas, along with Gateway parent Virginia Rodriguez for an afternoon of cooking, music and storytelling!

In the time honored tradition of tamale making, we will gather together to make tamales while socializing and sipping sangria (non-alcoholic beverages provided too).

Learn how to make three kinds of tamales: chicken, vegetarian, and sweet. We will sit down and taste the delicious tamales—and take home recipes and extra tamales to share with your family.

Tamales have been a favorite food in our part of the world for thousands of years. The tamale is recorded as early as 5000 BC, possibly 7000 BC in Pre-Columbian history. The women who were brought along to cook for fighting soldiers in time of war invented this delicious portable food to save time and space for cooking and eating. Tamales have always been wrapped in non-toxic sustainable wrappers such as banana leaves and corn husks, making them the original eco-friendly as well as portable food. (The sandwich was invented in 1792, and Sushi was invented in 1830.)

Tamales evolved from a necessary portable food during time of war, to a special treat to eat during the holidays. Today families in the U.S., Mexico, and South America still get together to make and eat tamales during the holidays.