Oh boy, Tamale Pie (or other savory pies)

I like this sort of stuff. Wish I had a friend that liked to cook it for me.

Compared with the masa from an authentic tamal, his pie crust looks very, very dry. It looks to need more lard.

Black beans are not a traditional filling around here. A chile colorado with pulled pork is the go to filling. Chile verde with chicken and chile strips with cheese are also popular.

I'm no judge, as you know. I wouldn't do black beans myself, at least at first. I eat enough damned beans, not from cans either. I do keep lard at hand. Mexico is a big place, I'll want to see more recipes. Aren't you in the border area? Not that that is a clue to what you know.. and chile colorado with the pork is more my thing. I need to look around, though.

Where is fbaezer when I need him? He can be quite cutting on US modes.. (in case you can't tell, I like him).

Oh, definitely. Banana leaves are used in areas of the south of Mexico instead of corn husks. The traditions I refer to are generally north central Mexico, e.g. Chihuahua, Coahuila, etc.

Ah, thanks. I didn't mean to dismiss your take on the original post but it sure looks like I did. I had a pal from Chihauhua, now long ago, a guy up at school in LA. No big romance, I helped him proof read, fix, stuff, political science if I remember, his english not all a mess but sometimes skewed, and when some of us went to Mexico, he was there, to help and have fun.

I'm always on a lookout for a good tamale. It can be chicken or pork, but with a distinct corn husk aroma and flavor. They're hard to find because not many places sell them in our area.

Oddly, there were some nice mediocre ones up in the Arcata area - which I considered as deprivation row, at least re mexican food.
Here, in Albuquerque, I swear I've only run into tamale pellets. I suppose it it a cultural difference. Also, I don't get around all that much, I could have missed the great places.

I've picked out a place for Diane and I to check out. Our last exploration here was useful, except for the noise machine.

Ask M-A the next time she visits. She and her sister check out a lot of Mexican food places when they're in the area. The place you liked recently is one of their regular eating spots. She's got a pretty good sense of food quality/authenticity.

I don't think I'd call Sadie's Mexican.. though I did like the food. Places here seem to be New Mexican, which is it's own thing.
Back in LA, there are some small places that are typical of certain mexican villages/towns. Jonathan Gold has a handle on a lot of that, but I haven't read him lately, given the LA Times paywall.

M-A and H do a lot of Mexican when they're in the area. M-A is a particular fan, though most of what she loves is more coastal - ceviche and that sort of thing.

I don't mean to pester, but in what area? Mexico? or New Mexico? I haven't been to Mexico myself for a while now, but I use to go there fairly often.

Ive always found tamales to be somewhat dough rich and filling poor. We have a huge mexican population in Lancaster and Chester Counties (mushroom farms and other truck farms and an increasing technical and trades people), and all the tamale makers make em pretty uninterestingly. Now the Burritos (as a hand food) are outstanding.
The funny thing is that much of the food I had whenever I was in Mexico, was allways well seasoned with all sorts of spices , mole sauces, sweet and hot chiles and fish dishes.

Most American takes on Mexican foods have always(to me) missed the boat.
Now Tex/Mex, the kind of stuff I would have at homes and restaurants in NM, was always creative and excellent.

(And sopaipillas alwys accompanied the food, very few of the sopes were sweet (thats what honey was for). There were dessert version of sopes and these taste just like thin crust beignets that we used to get in NAwlins.

"Savory pies" around here are more "comfort style",Chicken pies are full of white meat, corn, onion chunks, taters and mushrooms (mushroom capital and all that), all held together in a thick broth that sets up in a pie. We also love clam and corn pies, oyster and veggie pies, and a beef pie that has a more Goulash taste (lotsa paprika and bay).
Pasties (or more corrctly, the "pirozhkiare a small hand pie of Slovak origin that several Orthodox Catholic Church Sodalities make up and sell on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When we are out on the road in the coal fields, we always try to find a local church
serving em up. They are delightful.

I know the Brits claim that they invented pasties but e all know better.

In Canada, we have Tourtiere. It's a Quebec/French Canadian specialty, but you can find the pies throughout the country.
This link gives a better description that I could, but you can find all sorts of recipes, or variations on the theme.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourti%C3%A8re

Thanks and good to see you, Ceili.

I just read that, and now I'm hungry. I think I'd seen that name before, but had forgotten it.

Ive eaten them in NEw Brunswick. I like the spice mixes they put in. Tamales, at least all the ones Ive eaten, dont have enough filling for my taste.
Good to see "one eye" again

As I probably said in my beginning post, I've not liked tamales here in New Mexico, at all, until I ordered a tamale plate at Sadies (which I think of as a New Mexican restaurant as opposed to Mexican - but, I'm not sure how they think of themselves. That tamale had plenty of delicious filling.. (Go, Sadies, that was really good). I've liked tamales (my own american spelling) sometimes in Mexico, and sometimes in Los Angeles, a city with many people who came there from various areas of Mexico, with their different food cultures, and opened restaurants, often of the hole-in-the-wall type. Also sometimes made by my LA friends. One friend's grandmother sold tamales from a cart in downtown Los Angeles in the early 1900s. My later area in northern California was pretty lame for mexican food, though I did like one place and got to be pals with the woman who owned it. But there I gluttoned out on her quesadillas, no idea re her tamal making.


On Ceili's wiki link, I was attracted by the Manitoba variation of Tourtiere .. St. Boniface, if I remember.

Sodalities...

I haven't heard that word for years, by itself, much less in a discussion about pasties..