Tamales de Chipilín

Chiapas, the Meseta Comiteca Tojolabal around Comitán, is where this tamal lives. Fresh masa, chipilín leaves, manteca de cerdo, queso doble crema de Chiapas, and hoja de plátano. That is the map. That is the recipe.

Chipilín is not a generic Mexican green. It is a highland Chiapas herb, tender and earthy, with the taste of green beans, cool soil, and the milpa after rain. In the mercado of Comitán, a woman once slapped my hand when I reached for the thick stems. Leaves and tender tips only, she told me. She was right. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.

The banana leaf is not decoration. It gives the masa a humid, waxy green aroma and keeps the tamal tender while it cooks. Corn husks belong to many great tamales, but not this one. Cada estado, su propia cocina. For posadas, these packets can be made ahead, stacked in the tamalera, and carried to a table full of people without fuss. That is why the women of Chiapas perfected them: because good food also has to work.

My mother was from Jalisco, so chipilín was not her daily herb. In her notebook, beside a recipe copied from a Chiapaneca neighbor, she wrote: more leaf than you think. She was right about that too. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.