“A big tamal (or tamalón) wrapped in banana leaves and baked in the oven is practical because it saves cooks the trouble of wrapping dozens of individual tamales. It is also a thing of beauty—a spectacular way to showcase the elegance of an ancestral food cooked in the embrace of banana leaves and unveiled at the table. As you open the package, the musky aroma of the charred banana leaves mingles with the sweet scent of corn and the earthy aroma of the adobo, awakening the appetite. I like to use a handsome terra-cotta-colored earthenware baking dish, like a cazuela, which you will find at kitchenware and gourmet shops that sell Spanish ingredients and cookware.” -Maricel E. Presilla
Reprinted with permission from Peppers of the Americas: The Remarkable Capsicums That Forever Changed Flavor by Maricel E. Presilla, copyright © 2017. Published by Lorena Jones Books/Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photography credit: Romulo Yanes © 2017. Click here to purchase your own copy.