Tamales

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, December 17, 2009—

LINDSEY LIKES THE PRODUCTS of a fairly local firm called Primavera, and so do I. They refer to their line as "Organically Inclined, Traditionally Inspired," with commendable shiftiness; and their tortillas and tamales do seem authentic in flavor and texture, and do seem as nourishing as they are delicious. Look at the label on these BBQ Chipotle Bean & White Cheddar Tamales: beans, organic corn flour masa, white cheddar, tomatoes, onions, Worcestershire Sauce, brown sugar, salt, spices, butter, baking powder.
No stabilizers, no preservatives, nothing you can't pronounce; nothing but good things. Butter, for example: butter in tamales. Now there's a surprise.

Alongside them, kale from the garden, a few leaves spared by what must have been God's Wrath of a locust swarm or something like that; on returning from a week away I found only the veins on almost all the kale leaves. It's time to put the garden to sleep for a few weeks, I'm afraid.
Green salad, of course.

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