MONTE VISTA – For the past 46 years, Timi Medina has kept the recipe for his grandmother’s and mother’s tamales alive. He enjoys making tamales for his family during the holidays. 

“It’s something I learned growing up. I would watch my mom, and she told us that she watched her mom and that’s how she learned. I have six brothers, and five sisters. Everybody loves them. I have carried it down and I enjoy making tamales for the family. I make them every year for Christmas, but I also make them during the year to surprise some of my family, too,” he said. 

Medina, who lives in Monte Vista, said he can remember being young and smelling his mom’s homemade tamales throughout the house. He always knew it was a special time when she made her tamales. He remembers watching her and looking at the different ingredients that she used. 

“The way I make mine is just like she made hers; I make them different than what everybody else does around here. I use corn meal in mine. I use a little bit of masa harina (dough) in them to stick them together, but I mostly use corn meal. I use a little bit of lard. I use about a spoon of garlic. I also use ground beef, and I make my chile just the way we make red chile. I just try to make it kind of spicy for the tamales,” he said. 

Medina said that he always wondered where his mom and grandmother got their recipe for the tamales, and he recalls when he was working in Durango ordering some tamales from some ladies up there and they tasted similar. 

“The ladies up in Durango were selling tamales, and they were the same thing. I think my mom picked it up from them. I thought that was interesting. Around here, everyone else makes theirs different, but those ones tasted a lot like my mom’s tamales,” he said. 

Medina said that one aspect of his tamales that he misses since 2020 is being able to taste the strong spice in his chile. 

“Ever since I got the COVID my taste buds haven’t been there the way they used to be, so I have to be careful, because for me, my chile isn’t hot at all. I can’t taste it the way I used to. I miss that. I lost my taste buds with the COVID,” he said. 

Medina said that he has eaten hot chile all his life but sometimes doesn’t know how hot it is in his tamales unless someone else tells him.  

Medina said that he traditionally makes his tamales for Christmas, but he also enjoys making them at other times, too. 

“I have a lot of brothers and sisters. So, when I make them, if one of them finds out, they get mad at me if I don’t take them some,” he said with a chuckle. “I will take them a dozen or half a dozen depending on their family size. They really like them, they enjoy them. I like to surprise them, because everybody has to get a taste of them, and it keeps me out of trouble if they find out I made some, too.”  

Medina said that the process of making tamales can be time consuming. He said that it takes him about an hour and a half to roll them up and put them together. 

“It takes a lot of time. The masa, you know spreading it in the tamales. The mixing doesn’t take me long, but spreading it takes a long time. It also depends on how many I make, but I usually make a batch of about 30. I shoot for 24 but I always come out with 30 and I end up having some masa (dough) left over,” he said. 

Medina said he was raised to not waste anything, so he takes the rest of the masa and rolls it into tortillas. 

“Those corn tortillas are so good. I don’t waste what’s left,” he said.  

Medina has four children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and he tells all of them that they have to learn. 

“They ask me all the time. I tell them, well if you want to learn, you have to watch me,” he said.  

Medina says it is important for even his grown kids to learn by watching him just the way he did with his mother.  

Medina said what makes it all worth it for Christmas is when he arrives – makes a delivery – at his children’s houses. 

“As soon as they see me get out of the car, and I am bringing a tray with me, they are all smiles. They know what’s coming up. It’s just really special because it reminds me of my mom too. Even my oldest sister has said, ‘You know I could never make tamales like that, just like moms, yours taste just like moms’,” he said.  

Medina said that every year when he makes his tamales, he remembers his mom while he makes them. 

“She is always in my mind when I am making tamales. I think she is there with me when I am making them. I even tell her mom, help me make these tamales, and they always come out so good,” he said.