DC Diary- Some Very Expensive Tamales

Much of Day Three of our Christmas Family Trip to Washington, DC, which was on Wednesday, was spent at the fairly new Smithsonian Native American Museum.

Among the things we found out at this rather large museum was that rock pioneer Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) of Seattle was of Native American heritage, in addition to being black and he wore fancy costumes (one of which was on display) to pay homage to his heritage.

But, before we went through the museum which also featured art exhibits and historical/cultural displays, we ate lunch....and, a very expensive lunch at that in the museum's cafeteria.

My sister and I both got tamales with two sides, and the dishes cost a staggering twenty dollars each! My mom got a vegetarian soup and a sweet potato tart while my brother-in-law had either a pizza or a burger with a Bohemia beer and a cheesecake. The meal cost a shocking $95!

I asked my brother-in-law (who is not actually named Sven, nor is he Swedish- see earlier entry) is Bohemia was a Czech beer, but it turned out to be Mexican. While researching this piece, I found out that Bohemia, like another Mexican beer Pacifico, is made in the Pilsner style which originated in a part of what is now the Czech Republic.

My brother-in-law had a slight dispute as we were dinning as I had recalled an article in "Esquire" that stated the best tamales in America were found in Mississippi. He countered that they were actually found in New Mexico.

As it turns out, both of us could very be right.

Tamales are a traditional Latin dish, that is even found in India, made of masa, a corn-based starch dough. Along with Mexico, the Latin form of tamales can be found in Cuba, Argentina, El Salvador, Belize and Guatemala among other countries.

Tamales came to the United States in 1893, and quickly became popular among African-Americans, hence the reason why they are popular in the Deep South, particularly Mississippi, as well as in western states like Arizona and New Mexico with large Hispanic populations.

One place where one can find tamales in the South is at Fat Mama Tamales in Natchez, Miss., while there is a restaurant called Leona's Taurante in the hamlet of Chimayo, N.Mex, which also specializes in the dish.

One can even order frozen tamales from santafetamales.com (phone: 505-471-4766), including red chile tamales, green chile tamales and vegan tamales.

SIDEBAR: We want to congratulate the town of Strasburg, Va., about one hour and 15 minutes south of Washington, DC, on their 250th anniversary which is being celebrated tonight. The town is home to The Strasburg High School Rams, The Hotel Strasburg and The Strasburg Emporium, which is among the most popular antiques malls in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.