Tamales answer the call for disaster relief

At its debut on May 22, the Open-Air Sun City Center Fresh Market at Kings Point featured about 50 vendors. I was one of the super-eager customers in attendance with hundreds of other folks.

As early as 10 a.m., I stood in the sunshine armed with a straw hat and bottle of cold water. Even though I felt like I was standing in the door of a blast furnace, I still managed to enjoy wandering around the market, taking in all the fresh seafood, fruit, veggies, cheeses, pasta, lots of baked goods and even Elvis.

Channa Calzone, marketing coordinator of Minto Communities, called the turnout amazing. She said the event, which may become an annual affair, was Minto's way of thanking the community for its support.

I stopped by the bright red "Tamales de Gumer de la Veracrua" truck on my way out. Tamales beckoned.

Talking with its proprietors, Jan France and Gumersindo "Gumer" Rodriguez, I learned that net sales of the $5 chicken, pork and veggie tamales go to the nonprofit group America's Disaster Relief. When they're not selling tamales, the truck is used as a mobile kitchen to provide free disaster relief for victims in their ravaged neighborhoods.

In mid-July they will be leaving for Alabama, France said. Mexican-born Rodriguez makes traditional tamales with a 100-hundred-year-old recipe that has been passed down through generations. It's so secret that his great-grandmother warned him if he ever revealed it to anyone outside the family something bad would happen.

So I won't be sharing that recipe with you. Typically, the moist masa dough is wrapped in cornhusks, but France said banana leaves seal in the moisture much better.

Not to rub it in, but they were fabulous. I took home four, and we had them for dinner.

You can find Rodriguez and his outstanding tamales from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday at the Hyde Park Fresh Market at Swann and Dakota avenues in Tampa or at www.WCDisasterRelief.org.

PLAIN TAMALES

2 dozen dried cornhusks

1/3 cup lard

2 cups masa harina

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cups warm stock

Soak the cornhusks in warm water until softened. Cream the lard until it is light and fluffy. Mix the masa with the salt and baking powder and beat it into the lard, bit by bit. Gradually beat in enough stock to make a mushy dough. Shake the excess water from the softened cornhusks. Spread 1 tablespoon of the dough on the center part of each husk, leaving room to fold over the ends at top and bottom.

Place a tablespoon of your favorite tamale filling in the center of the dough and fold like a jelly roll so the filling is completely covered by the dough. Fold the ends of the husks over at top and bottom. Put the tamales in a steamer, with the bottom ends of the cornhusks down, and steam for about 1 hour or until the dough comes away from the husks.

Source: Adapted from "The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking" by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz