Venison Tamales

The luncheon yesterday exceeded all my expectations in every way.  There was a nopalito salad that was stupendous, and my compadre gave a riveting talk on how the Mexican IRS violates the Constitution but you can do almost nothing about it.  It may have provoked indigestion in some listeners, but we were glued to our seats either in fascination or horror.

One of the members of the club that sponsered the luncheon is a vet who hunts, and each year he treats the whole club to venison tamales; he has a little old lady in some tiny town around here who makes them, and she hits gourmet heights.  Apparently the whole club waits eagerly for the date when the tamales are served.  It is complicated; on January 6th, day of the Three Kings, a big crown of sweet bread festooned with sugared fruit is shared with friends and family.  In the bread, at least one tiny doll is hidden, and if you get it in your piece (assuming you don't swallow it and choke on it), you then have to offer tamales on the Día de la Candelaria, or a festive day related to the Virgen of the Candelaria.  That occurs on 2 February.  Mexicans never miss an occasion to eat, you may have noticed, and every celebration of any kind seems to involve food.  Sort of like Italians in that way.

Anyway, the vet drove by my house this morning and proceeded to deliver an industrial quantity of venison tamales just for us.  He said some people just couldn't wait, and since he was doing the rounds, he included us in the abundance.  I'm not a fan of venison because not many people can prepare it well, but I'll eat anything in tamal form.  That probably means extra kilometers in my daily run....