Tamales Nejos from Cuetzala Gro.

Recently, I noticed that my local Guerreran taqueria, Cuetzala Gro., started advertising Tamales Nejos on the weekends. Being unfamiliar with this dish, I did some research. I learned that Tamales Nejos are a specialty of Guerrero and are made from fresh masa which is prepared in water mixed with ash (instead of lime water) and steamed in banana leaves. They contain no meat, just masa. They are not shaped like traditional Tamales, but are large and flat like a pancake. Cuetzala sells 4 tamales for 3 dollars, which includes about 12 oz. of either of their excellent red or green mole sauces. I was at Cuetzala last night, getting some tacos de cabeza and a licaudo de mamey (a new found habit thanks to amata), when I bought some Tamales Nejos to bring home. I was a little unsure of exactly how they are meant to be served, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures of them.

Here is a Tamal Nejo wrapped in a banana leaf. It is about 4 in. by 8 in. and 3/8 in. thick.

The masa is poured on the banana leaf which is folded into thirds then steamed standing on its side in a rack.

As I unfolded it, I couldn't figure out if the "flap" section was meant to be discarded or folded under to produce a nice sharp rectangle or not (it would have looked better).
Instead, I just laid the whole thing out flat on a dinner plate.

The masa develops a pinkish hue in some areas from the ash, and in other areas has a green tint from the banana leaf.

The masa itself is not at all granular like cornmeal, but instead has the texture and consistency of pasta. The striations in the leaves make little ridges in the masa which reinforces the pasta resemblance. The tamal takes on a slightly bitter flavor from the banana leaf and a subtle earthy flavor from the ash. It grows on you.

It is a perfect medium for the wonderful mole sauce. I chose the mole verde which was fantatstic. The smooth texture of the masa with its subtle flavors contrasts well with the toasted, hot and garlicy flavor of the grainy and slightly crunchy sauce.


If anyone is familiar with this unique dish, I would love to learn more about it. The next time I am getting a licuado de mamey, I will ask how the tamales are meant to be presented. I think this would be a great dish for vegetarians, and at 75 cents each, you can't go wrong.

-dave


Cuetzala Gro.
7360 N. Clark
Chicago,IL 60626
773-262-9417


edited typos

How is the rest of the food there? I shop at Supermercado Morelia a LOT but I've never been in this place. I might just have to take the kids there for tacos tonight or possibly lunch tomorrow ( I've already sorta planned to try japanese shrimp curry for dinner tonight)

Octarine wrote:How is the rest of the food there? I shop at Supermercado Morelia a LOT but I've never been in this place.

I am planning to do a more complete review of Cuetzala (with pics), soon. On the whole, the food is pretty good, but a little inconsistent (depends on who is cooking).

The carne asada is very good, but the al pastor is just so-so (no spit). They have killer tacos de rajas con queso that are not on the menu board. Other more unusual taco fillings include cabeza de res, lengua and chicharron in green tomatillo sauce. I have had the lengua and the cabeza, which were both very good, especially the cabeza. I like that they put purple onions on their tacos. The tortillas are very fresh and moist, but I think they are commercial.

The huaraches and sopes are good also (they seem to specialize in masa based items). The huaraches are especially pretty to look at. The beans that they use are a combination of whole beans and paste. The gorditas seem OK, but I am not really that familiar with gorditas, so I am not a reliable judge of that form factor.

The burritos are absolutely massive. Recently, a friend of mine was pleasantly surprised with the vegetarian burrito. Instead of just the usual beans and lettuce, it also contained roasted peppers and squash.

The licuados are thick and cold (I think they add ice cream), and they have my new favorite flavor: mamey. The horchata is very good also, with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg.

I have not tried any of their entrees, but the pork ribs in green sauce caught my eye. They also recently added cornish hen in mole. I have tried both their red and green moles sauces, which are homemade and very flavorful.

The main complaints I have about the place, are that the TV, which is above the front door, is always blasting so the cooks can hear it in the kitchen. They also use that foul smelling disinfectant, that all the mexican restaurants mop their floors with.

If you shop at Morelia, then you know that Cuetzala is in one of those "cursed" locations where nothing stays open for very long. The last restaurant in that location was a "space" themed Mexican restaurant called "La Galaxia" with glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, tin foil comets, black lights, a mirror ball, cheesy lasers and lava lamps. The words "Space Station" were painted above the kitchen window. The cooks all had slicked back hair and pointy sideburns, dressed in all black and wore wrap-around sunglasses while cooking. Unfortunately, the food wasn't out of this world to match the decor. Before that, I think it was a pretty decent Honduran restaurant for a year, and before that it was a catfish and chicken shack owned by Pakistanis. Hopefully, these guys will stay. I am starting to like them. Unfortunately, the place is never very busy.

Great tip,

i've been meaning to try the place for a while (In fact I was meaning to try galaxia too). Any other favorites in the area that haven't made it to the board?

d4v3 wrote:If anyone is familiar with this unique dish, I would love to learn more about it.

If you like "nejos", you should seek out "tamales de ceniza" from Guanajuato which are a little more elaborate - lighter texture with a more interesting use of the ash flavor. The corn is cooked with both lime and ash. Queso fresco and salsa verde are beaten into the masa. The filling is pork and salsa verde. They are wrapped in corn leaves rather than banana leaves.

Bill/SFNM

tamales de ceniza are available at a number of spots in the area on weekends. I've seen them at chorritos, and all the various taqueria pueblas (on touhy at ridge, on clark south of pratt, etc)

zim wrote:tamales de ceniza are available at a number of spots in the area on weekends. I've seen them at chorritos, and all the various taqueria pueblas (on touhy at ridge, on clark south of pratt, etc)

Cool, I often go to the Taqueria mi Puebla on Touhy. I like that place (too bad the one on Sheridan never opened). I will try their "ash" tamales.

After doing a little more research, I found out that Tamales Nejos are usually used to scoop up the mole sauce by hand. The tamales on their own are interesting, but not particularly tasty without the sauce. From what I understand, the making of Tamales Nejos dates way back to Aztec times. Tamles Nejos were sometimes used as offerings to appease various mythical creatures.

In Arcelia and nearby towns there is a legend called “Los Chaneques” or “Los Chanes” about very mischievous dwarfs generally seen near lakes, lagoons, wells, and dams, in other words, wherever there is water. These dwarfs are very friendly and usually in a good mood, but whenever someone bothers them they can cause fevers, colds, and headaches. Once the offender gets sick, he will not be able to get well until he pleases the chanes by bringing them red or green mole with tamales nejos (with ash) and by dancing to a local tune. So if by any chance you happen to see someone dancing alone near a river, stream, or lake you will know what happened.

There is another legend about a tree with mysterious powers called terlate or tetlate. The legend says that anyone who walks under the tree will immediately get rashes all over his body and a very strong itch that will not go away with any known medicine. The only remedy for this strange disease is for the person to dance to a local tune and throw several tamales nejos to the base of the tree.

zim wrote:I've seen them at chorritos, and all the various taqueria pueblas (on touhy at ridge, on clark south of pratt, etc)

Zim,

Chorritos is the place on Clark, correct?

Enjoy,
Gary

Taqueria Chorritos
6404 N. Clark
773-381-0902

G Wiv wrote:
Taqueria Chorritos
6404 N. Clark
773-381-0902

you got it, some other interesting stuff too

tepache

tacos de pata, which I can't find the link to, but has mentioned by JeffB either here or on CH

d4v3 wrote:Recently, I noticed that my local Guerreran taqueria, Cuetzala Gro., started advertising Tamales Nejos on the weekends. Being unfamiliar with this dish, I did some research. I learned that Tamales Nejos are a specialty of Guerrero and are made from fresh masa which is prepared in water mixed with ash (instead of lime water) and steamed in banana leaves. They contain no meat, just masa. They are not shaped like traditional Tamales, but are large and flat like a pancake. Cuetzala sells 4 tamales for 3 dollars, which includes about 12 oz. of either of their excellent red or green mole sauces. I was at Cuetzala last night, getting some tacos de cabeza and a licaudo de mamey (a new found habit thanks to amata), when I bought some Tamales Nejos to bring home. I was a little unsure of exactly how they are meant to be served, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures of them.

I should have re-read your post before I went to Cuetzala today. I bought three tamales nejos for three bucks (should have gotten an extra tamale, based on your experience) and I didn't get any mole -- just two sauces (red and green, both watery), and boy, did I need them: I like the flavor of these nejos, but they're pretty bland all by themselves, though using them as implements to hoist mole to the mouth makes perfect sense. This is an excellent find; thanks for the tip (I'm researching Guerrero for an upcoming article, and I have not seen these tamales anywhere else in Chicago).

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:I should have re-read your post before I went to Cuetzala today. I bought three tamales nejos for three bucks (should have gotten an extra tamale, based on your experience) and I didn't get any mole -- just two sauces (red and green, both watery), and boy, did I need them: I like the flavor of these nejos, but they're pretty bland all by themselves, though using them as implements to hoist mole to the mouth makes perfect sense.

I am surprised they did not give you any mole at all. Even when I only buy a couple of the tamales, they give me a small container of my choice of mole. It must have been an oversight (or maybe the mole is a separate item, now). Yeah, they are sort of bland by themselves, but still the ash and banana leaf gives them a different flavor. They are similar to the corundas at Sol de Mexico without the pork topping. In fact, here is an article by Bayless about eating Tamales Nejos with Geno Bahena's mom (Sra. Clementina). However, he described them as being wrapped in corn leaves.

http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=1047&typeID=100

Just above, I wrote:After doing a little more research, I found out that Tamales Nejos are usually used to scoop up the mole sauce by hand. The tamales on their own are interesting, but not particularly tasty without the sauce. From what I understand, the making of Tamales Nejos dates way back to Aztec times. Tamles Nejos were sometimes used as offerings to appease various mythical creatures.

In Arcelia and nearby towns there is a legend called “Los Chaneques” or “Los Chanes” about very mischievous dwarfs generally seen near lakes, lagoons, wells, and dams, in other words, wherever there is water. These dwarfs are very friendly and usually in a good mood, but whenever someone bothers them they can cause fevers, colds, and headaches. Once the offender gets sick, he will not be able to get well until he pleases the chanes by bringing them red or green mole with tamales nejos (with ash) and by dancing to a local tune. So if by any chance you happen to see someone dancing alone near a river, stream, or lake you will know what happened.

There is another legend about a tree with mysterious powers called terlate or tetlate. The legend says that anyone who walks under the tree will immediately get rashes all over his body and a very strong itch that will not go away with any known medicine. The only remedy for this strange disease is for the person to dance to a local tune and throw several tamales nejos to the base of the tree.

Here is a link to the page with the Tamales Nejos stories referenced above. It lists several more local dishes with which I am not familiar, including Badger in Red Sauce and Flying Ant Tacos.
http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/eng ... idpag=1964

Saul Moreno, Owner of Restaurante Cuetzala, Dies Of Coronavirus: ‘Rogers Park Won’t Feel The Same’ Cuetzala won't re-open following the death of its owner, 58-year-old Saul Moreno.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/04/21 ... -the-same/