It wasn’t until I made tamales for my friend Golden two years ago that I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. It became clear that I had eaten a lot of bad tamales up to that point, because I thought mine were good. Golden looked like I basically had fed him two-by-fours. He made loud complaints, assuming that somebody else had made them. It just did not make sense to him that the same person who had taught him how to make pâté de campagne, the most divine of pressed and mushed-up meats, would be a dud when it came to Central American food.

Since then, I’ve made tamales on occasion. I’ve figured a few things out. One, pouring large amounts of pork oil into the masa is usually a good idea (I get it from Jalisco on the West Bank, where Stumpf ends and runs into Holmes). Two, corn husks are a mess and hardly ever big enough to hold a satisfying tamale. Three, banana leaves are equally difficult: They rip, and it’s hard to wrap them tight. A few weeks ago, though, I bought a luscious tamale from the taco truck at Claiborne and Toledano, and realized that aluminum foil with a small square of banana leaf thrown in just for taste is ultimately the way to go.

I’ve figured out how to get the flavor I like. I melt finely minced onion and tons of garlic into the pork oil and then I bloom the spices in this oniony fat—loads of cumin and some toasted, crushed coriander seeds. I’m really into coriander seeds. They’re like natural MSG, and add a lot of brightness to the overall flavor while remaining somewhat anonymous. But I still have not been able to get the texture right. Every time I make tamales, I add more and more water to the masa. At first it was a bit like biscuit dough, then like thick pancake batter and now I basically make thin pancake batter, but the darn things STILL come out drier than I’d like. I want pudding consistency!

I made tamales last night with my two daughters, Agnes (3) and Lucia (1). Agnes helped by placing banana leaf squares very squarely on top of foil squares while Lucia slapped masa meal over them and everything else. Lucia discovered that raw masa meal is a great tummy exfoliator, and also possibly brightens teeth. I should let Golden know.