Sundays only, homemade tamales.
They'd been deposited in two baskets flanking the checkout counter. Perhaps so the foil-wrapped bundles could be distinguished at a glance, the chicken were squarish, the pork, more oblong. My tamal de pollo ($1.99) seemed bulkier than usual, and once I peeled away the leaky foil and the inner leaf wrapper, I found out why: A smooth but dense wad of dough surrounded chicken that was still on the bone.
It's been suggested that stuffing tamales with raw, bone-in chicken and then cooking it, rather than filling them with cooked, shredded chicken, distributes the chicken fat throughout the dough for a richer texture and flavor. I can believe it, but I'll hope to meet the tamale maker in person so she can flesh out the details.
Hope Fresh Food Market
268 Hope St. (Pilgrim Walk-Colonial Rd.), Stamford, Connecticut
203-602-6667
