The Tamalada Tradition and the Lost Spice: An Exclusive El Rancho Chocolaté Story
The kitchen at Abuela’s casa (house), was already bustling, fragrant with the rich scent of simmering pork, chili, and fresh masa. Corn husks lay soaking in a giant tub, ready to be filled. It was the start of the holiday season and the family’s annual Tamalada, the cherished ritual where all the tías and primas (aunts and cousins) would soon arrive to form a huge assembly line, spreading masa (corn dough) and filling corn husks with delicious savory pork mixture of ingredients. The girls knew this long afternoon of collaborative work would require serious fuel, and their mission was to get the family's special and spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate ready to serve the whole group arriving soon. This tradition, so central to their Mexican American culture, made the long and tedious work of making the tamales a joy.
“Berta, you watch the masa texture. It must be perfect - just as the tías expect it!” Abuela instructed, her own hands flying as she started making a first test batch of tamales and tying them up. “Rita, make sure the holiday lights and decorations are shining, sí? Elda, you check on the the ingredients for making the hot chocolate! I’m leaving you all in charge now to get everything prepared while I go to the market to pick up a few more things.”
Berta, nodded seriously. She had a clip in her hair and masa on her apron. Berta, who was also an excellent fashionista and designer, had sewn matching aprons for herself, Rita, and Elda to ensure they looked as festive as the tamales tasted. Each apron was crisp and white with a ruffle around the edge and decorated with appliqued poinsettia motifs, also known as Flors de Nochebuena (Flowers of the Holy Night). This beautiful rich red flower has always been a cherished Christmas symbol, originally found in Mexico. Its big star shaped petals perfectly represented the hope and cheer of the holiday season—a detail Berta insisted made her handiwork on their aprons look "just right."
Elda knew that the hot cocoa she was in charge of was an important part of the tamalada. It was the sweet, warm fuel that kept everyone going until the final tamal was steamed. She turned to her list for the bebidas (drinks). “Cacao beans, check. Leche (milk), check. Azucar (sugar), check. She then went through the whole list of secret ingredient spices, checking them off one by one to make she had everything she needed. But wait!” Elda’s brow wrinkled tighter than the dried corn husks. “The Canela Especial is missing! That’s the special cinnamon from Oaxaca—the very best place to get this spice. Abuela says it’s what makes the hot chocolate so good! It’s no where to be found!” She checked every cupboard and drawer, the pantry shelves….nada (nothing)! “Oh no, we are in trouble. The cocoa will be nothing without that canela.”
“Ay, Elda, no te preocupas (don’t worry)!” Rita called from atop her rickety ladder. Rita was the group's resident fix-it person; she loved getting her tools out and taking charge of any handiwork. She was busy transforming the high kitchen beams into a festive canopy using twinkling lights, colorful papel picados, and home-made ornaments, making sure everything was perfectly in place. “It’s probably just hiding under one of the bowls on the counter where all the tamalada ingredients are! Don’t worry. It will show up eventually. You have plenty of time to find it before everyone arrives. Right now, I’m making this room look beautiful and that’s what really matters!”
“Looks don’t fuel the tamalada, Rita, hot chocolate does!” Elda snapped, nervously peering into another cupboard.
While Elda continued to worry about the missing canela and Rita decorated, Berta moved through the kitchen, meticulously stacked the serving mugs and ensuring the soaking corn husks were soft and perfectly clean, making sure everything was organized and prepared carefully for the day’s activities.
Elda, the more quiet and contemplative of the three finally let her temper get the better of her. “This is serious, Rita. We need that canela. Where would Abuela put something so special, yet so easily forgotten in the rush to get everything ready for the tamalada?”
Rita paused from her decorating for a moment. From her high vantage point, she had a wider view. Maybe if she took some time to really look around the kitchen from up high, she could spot something that Berta and Elda weren’t seeing. As she scanned them room, she saw a shiny metal tin high up on a shelf in the next room that looked out of place. “Berta, Elda, look up here!” she pointed to the narrow shelf. “See that small tin? I noticed Abuela put it up there earlier but I didn’t think anything of it.”
Berta and Elda quickly moved to the next room and grabbed the metal tin box. Sure enough, tucked safely away on the high shelf, was the small, labeled tin. The Canela Especial was fragrant and perfectly dry.
Elda, who had been reorganizing the spice cabinet to make sure she hadn’t overlooked the canela before, spoke up, her voice gentle but firm. “Abuela always says the very special spices must be kept away from the heat and steam of the kitchen. They need to stay dry and sealed to keep their potency and aroma. The steam from the pot on the stovetop in the kitchen would not be good for the canela.
Berta laughed in relief, the wrinkle in her brow smoothing out. “Abuela’s planning is genius! She wanted to protect the flavor from the tamalada chaos!”
Elda, relieved that the special ingredient she was in charge of was safe, gave a small, quiet smile. She then grabbed a pot and a molinillo and was ready to prepare the cocoa. “We found the special spice. Now, it is officially cocoa time.”
With the special cinnamon secured, Elda quickly blended the rich cacao and spices. Rita and Berta jumped in to join Elda since they were running behind on making the cocoa due to the search for the missing cinnamon. They didn’t want to disappoint the tias and primas! As the mixture was prepared and frothed with the molinillo, Elda looked out the kitchen window and proudly poured four steaming mugs. Abuela had just returned from the market with sweet pan dulce for the group’s busy afternoon. The sweet, spiced aroma cut through the savory kitchen air and out the front door. Abuela could smell the aroma and was happy to have a hot mug ready for her as soon as she entered her kitchen. Little did she know the worry that the girls had experienced trying to find the missing spice.
The tamalada was saved! It took Berta’s preparation of the masa, Rita’s attention to the decor, and Elda’s attention to the details of the ingredients for the cocoa to make the family’s tamalada perfect.
⬇️ Download the Festive Family Coloring Book to see how this determined trio works together for the holiday tamalada!
