For many Mexican families, Christmas also means tamales. A lasting tradition in Latin America, the holiday wouldn't be the same without them. Traditionally eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve, tamales are now popular as holiday meals in Texas and the Southwest.

Tamales are made for an "occasion," and an occasion is made of making them. In Mexico, the entire family joins in — shredding, chopping, stirring and cleaning the husks until everything is prepared. Then everyone converges to form an assembly line, from spreading the masa on the husks to adding the filling, to folding and stacking the tamales into the steamer.

America's first cuisine

Tamales date back to pre-Columbian Mexico and possibly even farther back. Nixtamalization — the processing of field corn with wood ashes — dates back to southern Guatemala around 1200-1500 B.C. This process softens the corn for easier grinding and aids in digestibility, increasing the nutrients absorbed by the body. (Tamale corn dough is highly nutritious and low in calories).

In his book What the Aztecs Told Me, Friar Bernardino Sahagun, a Spanish missionary of the Franciscan order who came to the New World during the religious conquest, mentions that the Spaniards were served tamales by the Aztecs during their first visits to Mexico. Filled with beans, meats and chiles, they were cooked on open fires or comals, which are flat, round, heavy-duty pans.

Nuevo Latino and New World chefs have brought new ideas to this ancient food and there are as many ways to prepare them as there are regions in Mexico, each with its own take on them. Tamales from Central Mexico, for instance, have a white, spongy dough that bears no resemblance to the uninspiring dough of most commercial tamales sold in the U.S. Guatemala and southern regions of Mexico, like Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Yucatan, are known for their outstanding mole-sauce tamales.

If your idea of Mexican food is gorditas and chimichangas — both virtually unheard of south of the border — then mole is a great way to delve into more sophisticated Mexican flavors not normally found in taco joints.

Born in the convents of Puebla, mole is one of the most revered and feared recipes from Mexico because of its complex flavors and intimidating ingredients list. Avoid the temptation to buy prepared mole sauce. Better to create your own according to your tastes and adapt the recipe to the products and spices available locally. Even if you cut the ingredients list in half, you'll still have a decent mole.

Tamales 101

Mole sauce: Prepare in advance and refrigerate until needed or, as long as you're going to the trouble, make a large batch and freeze part of it for later use with different recipes. Most people associate mole sauce with chocolate, but there are other varieties like green, yellow, red and black. Mole recipes are abundant on the Internet.

Filling: Unless you have leftover roast turkey or pork, prepare the meat ahead of time any way you like, taking care not to overcook the meat. When meat is tender and juices flow clear, set aside to cool. Meat should shred easily before it's ready to go inside the tamales. Assemble, chop and lightly sauté vegetables like carrots, bell peppers and squash. Add sliced green olives if desired.

Masa dough: Do you ever wonder why most tamales are dry, bland and undigestible? Using the right masa and shortening makes a huge difference, and a bad masa dough can ruin your tamales (ditto on store-bought mole sauce).

Use "fresh" masa, a dried corn that has been cooked in lime (the mineral), soaked overnight and then ground while still wet. Sold in this form it is called "masa fresca" or "masa preparada para tamales," and you can purchase it at most Mexican groceries. Or you can buy the dried masa, which just needs to have extra liquid added. Sold as Maseca or Masa Harina de Maiz, don't mistake it for the finer grind used to make tortillas. Regular corn meal cannot be substituted.

Shortening: Traditional masa dough calls for pure lard or manteca, which isn't the same as the commercial variety. If you can't find it at a Mexican grocery store or butcher shop, you can use rendered turkey or pork fat.

For lighter, fluffier dough: With a hand beater, whip the lard with a little bit of salt to a creamy consistency before adding to the masa. Once added, continue to whip adding water, chicken broth and/or meat juices until the mix resembles soft cookie dough. If you prefer not to cook with lard, substitute vegetable shortening, although the dough won't have the same fullness of flavor.

Wrapping: The kind of wrapping you use is important in maintaining moisture. Banana or plantain leaves are best, the theory being that because banana leaves form a tighter, more durable package, the masa can be made more loose with the addition of more fat and liquid without fear of leakage or crumbling. They also allow for longer cooking times for a smoother, more digestible masa.

Steaming: Use a large stock pot, a bamboo steamer set in a wok, or a crock pot. Arrange tamales in layers; place some extra banana leaves on top of each layer to help absorb the steam. Steam covered over medium heat for 45 to 50 minutes, or longer if you're cooking the meat and vegetables inside the dough.

Tamale-making is a long and involved process, which is why making them is so often turned into a social event. Having a "tamalada" is the easiest way to prepare this special holiday meal by involving everyone in the process. If you're doing everything on the day of the party, get started early to get people chopping and cooking. (Hint: Have margaritas on hand as a social lubricant and a bribe — but not too many that the tamales wind up a disaster). Then, form the assembly line to put it all together. Finish off the meal with a delicious vanilla lime flan recipe from Papantla, the vanilla capital of Mexico.

If the task of making your own tamales seems daunting, head for Los Mayas Restaurant. Specializing in regional Mexican dishes, the kitchen serves up banana leaf tamales during the holidays. It is located at 409 W. Water Street and open daily from 5 to 10 p.m. Call 986-9930 for takeout orders and reservations.

To purchase fresh masa dough, order in advance from:

• Panaderia Zaragoza: 4641 Airport Road, 471-3292. Open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• El Paisano Mexican grocery store and butcher shop: 3140 Cerrillos Road next to Joann's Fabrics, 424-9105. They also have a food counter (take-out or eat-in). Banana leaves, usually frozen, can also be purchased here or at:

• Iggy's International Market, 1005 St. Francis Dr. in the Crossroads Center, 986-5054.


Sauce
2 tablespoons squash seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 dried chile pasa pod, de-stemmed and toasted (you can substitute one Chimayo-red chile pod)
1 chile guaque pod, de-stemmed and toasted (you can substitute one guajillochile pod)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs
1 pound ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 ounces bitter chocolate, melted
1/2 cup water
1 pound boneless chicken

Dough
2 pounds masa harina
8 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 pound butter or margarine, melted
Banana leaves

Prepare a smooth sauce in the food processor with all the sauce ingredients except the chicken. Cook the sauce and the chicken together in a covered pan over moderate to low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and cut it into 2-inch cubes. Set aside the chicken and the sauce. Mix the dough ingredients together and simmer in a pan over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until it is thick and smooth. Set aside.

Assembling the tamale: Cut banana leaves (or aluminum foil) into 12-inch squares. To each tamale, add 1 small dried pitted prune, 2 raisins and 2 pitted green olives. Put 1/2-cup of the dough in the center of the leaf or foil sheet. Smooth it out to a rectangle, 4 x 5 inches wide and long and 1 inch thick. Top this with 2 tablespoons of the sauce and 1 cube of chicken. Around the side, gently press in the prune, raisins and olives. Fold the leaf toward the center, seal it, then give the ends a twist around to seal the ends. If you use banana leaves, fold it into a packet and tie with string.

Place a large collapsible steamer inside a deep, wide pot; pour in enough water for a depth of 1 1/2 inch. Line steamer with banana leaf pieces. Arrange tamales in the steamer, standing them upright. Cover pot; boil. Reduce heat to medium and steam tamales, covered, until firm and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Unwrap tamales, serve hot or at room temperature.