A Tamalada

Mom says I can host the tamalada
as she sends me the sacred text:
our family tamale recipe.
It’s an oral tradition from bisabuela
that’s somehow made its way to print
and now to a blurry text on my phone.

My great aunt’s writing fills the margins
with notes, adjustments, and reminders
that you’ll know it’s right by sight and smell
because this is part science but mostly culinary art.

I’m entrusted with the masa and fillings,
roasting pork shoulder into a red blend
of anchos, serranos, and guajillos.
The family starts to file in
late as usual (another Mexican tradition)
and we fill the dining table with chairs
and take our rank.

Mom’s in charge and tells us to watch how it’s done,
tucking and folding
until she holds above our heads, like a baptized child,
our exemplar tamale
“Just like that!” ¡Perfecto!

The cousins spread masa on corn husks
while the aunts scold and send back
any defects or imperfections
until they get it just right.
The aunties and mom fill and roll
as the little ones struggle to tie off the ends
with corn husk strips
(we can’t use string, mom says it’s not traditional).

We hum to mariachi music as they steam in the pots,
the house smelling of earthy cumin
and hot oil as one auntie fries tortillas.
We argue over the amount of salt
in grandma’s enchilada sauce recipe
and accusations of a time she added sugar.

The pressure cookers whine as we pile
heaps of tamales onto large plates to serve.
We let the men back in the house
as abuelo samples a little bit of everything.
He smiles and talks of grandma and bisabuela,
tells us they are here in our food,
in this kitchen. We speak memories
and Spanish in the refuge of my home.
We talk spirits and souls I whisper to my ofrenda,
“Bonita,” abuelo calls me, “You keep tradition alive.”

M. A. Dubbs is an award-winning Mexican American and LGBT+ writer who hails from Indiana. For more than a decade her writing has been published in literary magazines, zines, and anthologies across the globe. Her latest chapbook, An American Mujer, was released with Bottlecap Press. You can find her at melindadubbs.wordpress.com or www.instagram.com/madubbspoetry.