This coming fall 2003, the Tamale Museum will open on the property of the Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, California - Mundo Latino: news events

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, August-Sept, 2003

It will be the first museum in Southern California dedicated solely to the enjoyment of the culinary arts, and it will be the first Latino food museum in the United States. By way of exhibits and presentations, the Museum will celebrate Mexico's regional foods and the foods of the American Southwest. It will also chronicle and document the indigenous ingredients and traditional cooking techniques of Central and South America, and the influence brought to the continent by the Spanish.

Created by Chef John Rivera Sedlar, the museum will celebrate Mexican culinary traditions and have exhibits about the classic dishes of the Mexican kitchen, plus some of the early foods, such as insect larvae and reptiles. Visitors will also see the mission's gardens and orchards.

Sedlar named his project the Tamale Museum because of the importance of this dish in Mexican culture.

He plans to offer classes at the museum in making both traditional and modern tamales. These days, the tamale is fast food, available from lunch trucks, Mexican takeout restaurants, and little shops that specialize in tamales by the dozen.

But for people from Mexico, a tamale was once a special dish, the product of hours of hand labor Unwrapping a warm corn husk released a comforting aroma of corn, along with thoughts of home and family and celebrations. Linking the tamale culture on both sides of the border is Maseca, which provides Mexicans and Hispanic-Americans alike with corn flour.