Guajolota

According to Wikipedia, a guajolota is “a traditional tamal torta (Mexican tamal sandwich) from Mexico City, consisting of one tamal inside a bolillo…”

That… doesn’t look very exciting, does it? I guess the point of it is to use the bread to protect your fingers from the hot hot fresh-out-of-the-steamer tamale, but the ratio seems off, doesn’t it? The tamale is delicious, and the bolillo is fresh and good, made at a local Mexican bakery

But the thing is, a tamale (or tamal if you want to be pedantic about it, which I don’t) is just a spoonful of filling (in this case, cheese and a spicy chili pepper) wrapped up in a whole bunch of masa, or cornmeal. That makes this yet another example of the ever-dreaded carb-on-carb sandwich we’ve had difficulties with before on the Tribunal.

Not to mention that when I buy tamales, they usually come in a form something like this

I can (and do!) resteam them, but I also own things like plates, and forks, and other accoutrements that make wrapping them in a thick log of bread unnecessary.

But this is a sandwich website, and I want to make this work, and besides, my favorite tamale is maybe a better fit for that bolillo than the standard. My family was long overdue for a trip to Maxwell Street Market to visit Tamale Oaxaquenos, and so one Sunday, we went.

Maxwell Street Market is a street market held weekly in Chicago. Like the Maxwell Street Polish stands, it’s no longer on Maxwell Street. Instead, these days it’s held just northeast of there, on South Des Plaines Avenue. Originally a predominantly Jewish area, the market has historically enjoyed a rich diversity, and gave birth in part to what became known as the Chicago Blues (as immortalized, along with the Polish Sausage and the market’s famous “Cheat You Fair” slogan, in the John Lee Hooker scene from The Blues Brothers)

These days, the vendors (and the food) are largely Mexican, and while browsing the wares (and acquiring the city’s best tamales), I took some time out to try a Huarache con Huitlacoche. Huaraches are large thick sandal-shaped pieces of griddled masa, adorned with various toppings. Huitlacoche is a fungal infection of corn known in English as corn smut, and is considered by many to be a delicacy. This was my second time trying it, and… I’m not there yet. It was not terrible, though.

What I was really after were the Oaxacan tamales, easily distinguishable from standard tamales not only by their much larger size, but also by being wrapped in banana leaves instead of the standard corn husks.

The banana leaves lend a greenish tint to the masa, though not unpleasantly, and the tamales are generally served with salsa verde and sour cream.

Not today, though.

Where the single cheese tamale on a bolillo yielded many mouthfuls of bread and only a little tamale action, this sandwich was a fluffy brick. As delicious as the Oaxacan tamales are, it only took a couple of bites for me to realize that I’d gone the wrong direction here.

This site though, describes the guajolota as containing two tamales.

This gives a much better ratio, with near total coverage of the bread with the tamales, and enough spicy cheese-and-chili filling to make it a fulfilling (if still carb-centric) experience.

What if we make it more of a fully-dressed torta, though?

We start with the bolillo roll, and add mashed avocado and chipotle sauce. Then the tamales, tomatoes, salsa verde, and some crumbled queso fresco. You could go with beans, lettuce, onions, anything really, but these are the ingredients that spoke to me.

This was the sandwich I was looking for. By fully dressing the tamale, we supplement the filling enough to defeat the emptiness of the carb-on-carb experience and make each mouthful interesting. Each ingredient contributed both a flavor and a texture that made the sandwich more than just a bread vehicle for safely delivering a hot mouthful of masa.

Unfortunately, by this time, I was completely stuffed from the plain tamale sandwiches I’d already had, and was only able to finish a couple of bites. Maybe next time!