La Fiesta de Elote

If I ever see/eat/smell corn again, it will be too soon! Last Sunday, we went to Hugo's grandma's house for La Fiesta de Elote (Corn Party). I posted some pictures (see the link to the right). Check them out!



Each year, Herminia (Hugo's grandma) hosts a fiesta to celebrate the corn harvest. The party is held several weeks before the actual corn harvest takes place. About 50 ears of corn are picked and cooked to make various delicacies. These ears of corn are picked early, while they are still juicy enough to eat. In the coming weeks, the corn will harden and be ready for harvest. At harvest time, the corn is ideal for tortilla making but is far too tough to be eaten off the cob.



La Fiesta de Elote is quite the event. I would compare it to Thanksgiving in America...the family gets together to celebrate their many blessings and eat lots of food. There was lots of socializing and playing games (soccer and checkers). And in eight hours, the TV wasn't turned on once. It was kind of nice to just sit around and tell stories. We all spent the entire day sitting on the patio chatting. In fact, the only time anyone left the group was to cook. And, oh my...there was plenty of cooking!



One of the first items Herminia prepared was tamales. There are several ways to make tamales. Most commonly, tamales are made with meat (usually chicken) and vegetables (like potatoes and green beans). The basis for any tamale is corn. These particular tamales that Herminia prepared were made without meat or vegetables. Like most Salvadorian dishes, making tamales is a multi-step process. First, the corn is husked. Hugo, his uncle, and I husked about fifty ears of corn (some of the corn was saved and used for atole). Then, the uncooked corn kernels needed to be ground. This was accomplished two ways. One person (Hugo's aunt, Edis) ground the corn by rolling a rock over the corn on a smooth surface. Anther person (Hugo) had the opportunity to use a much more "modern" approach; he ground the corn in a grinding "machine." This uncooked, ground corn was mixed with water to form a paste (similar to the consistency of oatmeal). A heaping spoonful of this corn paste is placed inside a corn husk. The corn husk was folded around the corn mixture to keep it in place. Then, the tamales were put in boiling water for about two hours. After they were cooked, the husks were removed and the tamales could be eaten. These tamales were the first of many corn items offered throughout the day!



After tamales, Herminia served elote loco (crazy corn). Corn, cooked on the cob and skewered, was topped with many different condiments. First, the corn cob was spread with mayo. Then ketchup, mustard, and salsa negro (wostershire sauce) were squirted all over the cob. Lastly, shredded cheese was sprinkled over the top of the condiments. Elote loco was a big hit. Everyone enjoyed several ears...and had the mess on their face and/or shirt to prove it!



At mid-day, Herminia served lunch. I knew Herminia had chickens in a coop out back, but I had never thought much about them. Well, on Sunday I was definitely thinking about them! The reason for this new found recognition...they were our lunch. Herminia brought two chickens out of the coop and gave them to her daughters. They then spent the next several minutes plucking them. Margoth and Sonia moved to the side yard to pluck the chikens. At first, I thought it was so we wouldn't have to watch. However, Hugo told me it was so the parakeets wouldn't watch. Herminia has two parakeets. Their cages hang from the porch awning. Once, Sonia had plucked a chicken where the parakeets could see. By the end of the day, the parakeets had plucked themselves clean! In addition to our chicken, we also had tortillas for lunch. And of course, they were corn tortillas. Did I mention there was a lot of corn served on Sunday?!



The last dish werved was atole. Like all the other dishes, making this dessert corn drink was a multi-step process. Corn that had been husked earlier in the day was cut off the cob. This task fell to Hugo. It used to be his grandpa's job; since Victoriano passed away, Hugo has become the "man of the house." Then, the uncooked corn kernels needed to be ground again (same process as the tamale preparation). The ground corn (which had formed a sort of dough) was mixed with water. The liquid from the corn was strained through a towel and kept. This water mixture was the base for the atole. The liquid was strained a second time. After the second straining, the mixture was combined with fresh milk (as in...directly from the cow) and sugar. This final product was put over the fire and cooked for about 45 minutes. The mixture had to be stirred continually, so the women took turns (it was very warm standing over the fire). At one point, the atole started to boil over. The men had to be called in to remove the huge pot from the fire. (Sidenote: Herminia was extremely sad the mixture had boiiled over. Not because it had damaged the drink, but because it had damaged the cows that gave the milk. Legend has it that if fresh cow's milk boils over, it causes infection in the utter of the cow who gave the milk). Finally, the atole was compte and ready to enjoy. Everyone was served a large portion of atole and an ear of corn. The ear of corn was eaten in between drinks of atole.



After atole, the day was pretty much over. Some people continuted to eat tamales and elote loco. Personally, I was done with the whole idea. It was more corn than even this Iowa girl could handle!