***image1***Get your cornhusk on.
EL MERENDERO (POSA
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3538 Zafarano Drive, Ste. A2, 473-3454; 1514 Rodeo Road, 820-7672;
You've eaten these tamales a hundred times before-even if you never knew it. The doughy little cornhusked goodies are on the menu at some of your favorite restaurants. But get them straight from the source at El Merendero (Posa's). The most traditional, of course, is red chile and pork, but the green chile chicken filling has a particularly restorative effect. The green chile cheese tamales are made with a combination of mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese, but if I didn't want to eat meat I'd skip those for the vegan version, which is stuffed with green chile, corn, squash and red peppers.
COYOTE CAFÉ
132 W. Water St., 983-1615,
Coyote almost always has a tamale on the menu, which shouldn't be surprising as Coyote's founder, Mark Miller, co-authored a book on tamales. The menu changes weekly, but Nuevo Latino-style tamales are often found among the appetizers, costing somewhere around $10. Recent offerings have included a blackened habanero and duck confit tamale with shiitake mushrooms and a tequila-habanero sauce. A quail and green chile asadero cheese version was lavished with cilantro and habaneros.
CAFÉ PASQUAL
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103 E. Water St., 983-9340,
Pasqual's is interesting because the menu frequently contains tamales that are different from the kind we're used to in northern New Mexico. Napo's Salvadoran Tamal is a white corn masa filled with squash, potatoes, chile and cheese. Pasqual's uses an Iroquois corn meal that is toasted before grinding, so it has a nutty flavor. Oh, and don't miss the tamal dulce, a sweet, raisin-studded tamale steamed in fragrant banana leaves.
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