On Wed, 19 May 2021 20:30:34 -0400, jmcquown wrote:

> I hear ya' about the pickled taste thing. Do they still sell little
> cans of Old El Paso chopped green chilies? The ingredients are chopped
> green chilies, water, salt. No vinegar, no pickled taste. I'll have to
> look for some.

They still make 'em - and Ortega, too. They're both washed of all
their flavor during processing and canning and not worth buying.

On a hunch, I checked the ingredients. You forgot Citric Acid and
Calcium Chloride. The citric acid can give them a slight pickled
taste. Which I didn't consider (since I don't buy those). Citric
Acid in almost all canned vegetables that don't contain vinegar or
enough acid of their own. Italy, at least, uses lactic acid in many
of their canned vegetables and it's much less harsh and noticeable.

> It's just one of things, one day I got a wild hair and decided I'd like
> to try to make tamales from scratch because hey, I hadn't done that
> before! The venture was a success. Not likely to be repeated.

My first batch of tamales I ever made was in 2003 or so. I made them
for an austin.food get-together at a brewery (Live Oak Brewery).
About 20-25 people TOPS. Well, it turns the suck ass "organizer"
who suggested it was actually piggybacking off of somebody else
already organized party while leading us to believe he set this
"exclusive" up just for austin.food. There were 120+ people and 35
or so green chile and chicken tamales with salsa on the side, all
from scratch. I went to get a extension cord for the crock pot to
keep them warm, and they were gone in the 4 minutes before I got
back. And only one person from austin.food got to have one, and even
I only had two a few hours before. They took 5 hours to make. And
it was the only food there.

According to the person I DID know, the tamale was very good. And
the unknown second person who came back after eating the first one
to get another, said it was very good, too. And then complained when
the crock pot was empty.

And the beer? Pbbbt! It was actually just a marketing-style "tasting
event", not an exclusive party for austin.food. And not "plenty of
beer for all". It was two 1/4 (left) kegs and they lasted maybe 25
minutes, of which I got a 2oz pour in a 16oz plastic cup.

Fortunately my guy from Saint Arnold's Brewery who I rode there with
had a locked, insulated "toolbox" in the bed of his truck that he
almost always has a nice, cold selection of beer on hand wherever he
goes. So it wasn't a total bust.

So, Yes - I agree. There's a first time, and not often a second
time you make tamales. And **** you, disgraced John Avignone!

-sw

On Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 4:47:08 AM UTC-5, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Wed, 19 May 2021 20:30:34 -0400, jmcquown wrote:
>
> > I hear ya' about the pickled taste thing. Do they still sell little
> > cans of Old El Paso chopped green chilies? The ingredients are chopped
> > green chilies, water, salt. No vinegar, no pickled taste. I'll have to
> > look for some.
>
> They still make 'em - and Ortega, too. They're both washed of all
> their flavor during processing and canning and not worth buying.
>
> On a hunch, I checked the ingredients. You forgot Citric Acid and
> Calcium Chloride. The citric acid can give them a slight pickled
> taste. Which I didn't consider (since I don't buy those). Citric
> Acid in almost all canned vegetables that don't contain vinegar or
> enough acid of their own. Italy, at least, uses lactic acid in many
> of their canned vegetables and it's much less harsh and noticeable.
>
> > It's just one of things, one day I got a wild hair and decided I'd like
> > to try to make tamales from scratch because hey, I hadn't done that
> > before! The venture was a success. Not likely to be repeated.
>
> My first batch of tamales I ever made was in 2003 or so. I made them
> for an austin.food get-together at a brewery (Live Oak Brewery).
> About 20-25 people TOPS. Well, it turns the suck ass "organizer"
> who suggested it was actually piggybacking off of somebody else
> already organized party while leading us to believe he set this
> "exclusive" up just for austin.food. There were 120+ people and 35
> or so green chile and chicken tamales with salsa on the side, all
> from scratch. I went to get a extension cord for the crock pot to
> keep them warm, and they were gone in the 4 minutes before I got
> back. And only one person from austin.food got to have one, and even
> I only had two a few hours before. They took 5 hours to make. And
> it was the only food there.
>
> According to the person I DID know, the tamale was very good. And
> the unknown second person who came back after eating the first one
> to get another, said it was very good, too. And then complained when
> the crock pot was empty.
>
> And the beer? Pbbbt! It was actually just a marketing-style "tasting
> event", not an exclusive party for austin.food. And not "plenty of
> beer for all". It was two 1/4 (left) kegs and they lasted maybe 25
> minutes, of which I got a 2oz pour in a 16oz plastic cup.
>
> Fortunately my guy from Saint Arnold's Brewery who I rode there with
> had a locked, insulated "toolbox" in the bed of his truck that he
> almost always has a nice, cold selection of beer on hand wherever he
> goes. So it wasn't a total bust.
>
> So, Yes - I agree. There's a first time, and not often a second
> time you make tamales. And **** you, disgraced John Avignone!
>
The reason I've considered making tamales is that the ones you buy
never seem to have much meat in them. They're 90+% corn. If I make
them, they'll be red chile & pork. When we have a few 100F days here,
I could dry my own corn husks.
>
> -sw
>
--Bryan