Every year, the second weekend in October brings visitors from all over to Zwolle, Louisiana for the annual Zwolle Tamale Fiesta!
With over 1,000 dozen tamales, concerts, tamale eating contests, cultural demonstrations and more -- it's a unique experience that you'd want to see for yourself.
Come on down to Toledo Bend Lake Country in October and get a taste of Toledo Bend's special Spanish and Indian culture!
Want to make your own Zwolle Tamales at home? Feel free to use our one-of-a-kind recipe from Bub T's Tamale House!
First, gather your ingredients:
- Corn Shucks
- Water
- Salt
- Granulated Garlic
- Raw, Whole-Kernel Corn
- Pickling Lime
- Soft Lard
- Boston Butt Pork Roast
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic Cloves
- Cayenne Pepper
- Minced Garlic
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Paprika
Then, follow the recipe below:
For the dough, cook 2 cups of raw whole-kernel corn, 1/4 cup of pickling lime, and 1 gallon of water about 45 min-1 hour or until tender. Once cooked, wash corn and cleanse of husks. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, grind corn 2x. Mix the grinded corn with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of granulated garlic. Next, add 1/2 cup of soft lard and 1 qt of water -- mixing all ingredients until smooth. Return the dough to refrigerator until ready to use.
For the meat, cut 1 Boston Butt Pork Roast into small pieces. In a stock pot, cover the pieces with water and boil until tender. Next, remove the meat from the stock and set it aside to cool. Save 1 qt of stock. Add 1 yellow onion and 4 cloves of garlic to the meat and grind together. After ingredients are ground, add in 1 1/2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp granulated garlic, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 cup crushed red pepper, 1/2 cup paprika. Lastly, add in the saved qt of stock, mixing all ingredients together completely.
To form the tamales, soak the corn shucks in hot water until tender. Then, on the smooth side of the shuck, put 3 tbsp of dough onto the shuck and smooth out for tamale base. Add 1 heaping spoonful of meat mixture on top of the dough and smooth accordingly. Next, roll the shuck together, tucking the tail of the shuck inside. Repeat until all have been rolled.
To cook, place in steamer pot to steam for 1 hour, then enjoy! Allow the leftover tamales to cool completely before refrigerating to enjoy later.