Make It Mexican With Roland: Tamales - Slideshow Style

This is the first installment of Mexican food tutorials with the warm and inspiring Roland Rubalcava of Rubalcava's in Placentia. Roland has agreed to take us through his favorite dishes that he learned how to make from his mother--this way, you no longer have any excuses to eat at a gabacho-fied Mexican joint again!

To kick off the series, Roland will teach us how he makes tamales, a special tradition for many Mexican families this time of year. He said the key to making tamales is "doing it with people you enjoy." It can be pretty labor-intensive, but a little help from your friends and sharing the tamales over beers when they're ready makes it all worthwhile. Let's begin.