Guatemalan Chocolate Tamale

Tamal negro is a festive Guatemalan tamale variant whose masa is darkened with chocolate, giving it a distinctive sweet-and-savory flavor that sets it apart from tamal colorado.

It’s a special tamale, reserved for notable occasions, valued for the uncommon combination of chocolate with meat and spices.

Guatemalan Chocolate Tamale

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• Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 pieces
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Guatemalan

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 kg of corn masa (about 2.2 lb)
• 1/2 cup of lard
• 100 g of Guatemalan chocolate tablet (about 3.5 oz)
• 6 of tomatoes, roasted
• 3 of pasilla chiles, toasted and soaked
• 1 of onion, roasted
• 3 cloves of garlic, roasted
• 1 kg of pork and/or chicken, in pieces, cooked (about 2.2 lb)
• 12 of prunes
• to taste of salt
• 12 of banana leaves, for wrapping

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Instructions

1. Make the recado, blend the roasted tomatoes, soaked chiles, onion, and garlic until smooth.
2. Melt the chocolate, melt the chocolate tablet in a double boiler or over very low heat.
3. Cook the recado, cook the blended sauce in a pot, gradually adding the melted chocolate until fully incorporated.
4. Make the masa, melt the lard and mix it with the corn masa, incorporating the chocolate recado until you get a smooth, dark masa.
5. Cook the masa, cook the masa over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and pulls away from the bottom of the pot.
6. Prepare the leaves, pass the banana leaves over a flame to make them more pliable.
7. Assemble the tamales, place a portion of masa on each leaf, add a piece of meat and a prune.
8. Wrap, close each tamale into a well-sealed rectangular packet.
9. Steam, steam the tamales for 1 to 2 hours, until the masa is firm.
10. Serve, serve hot, inside the same leaf.

Tips for getting it right

• Using Guatemalan chocolate tablet, with spices already incorporated, gives tamal negro its characteristic flavor.
• Adding the chocolate to the sauce gradually keeps lumps from forming.
• Stirring the masa constantly while it cooks keeps it from sticking or burning.
• The prunes in the filling add a sweet contrast that complements the chocolate’s flavor.

Traditional variations

• It’s a festive tamale, less common than tamal colorado, reserved for special occasions.
• Some families add raisins in addition to the traditional prunes.

How to serve

Tamal negro is served hot, inside the same banana leaf it was cooked in.

It’s a special tamale in Guatemalan tradition, valued for its unique combination of chocolate and meat.

Recommended sides

• French bread
• Coffee

Did you know?

Tamal negro is less common than tamal colorado, and its chocolate-based preparation reflects cacao’s pre-Hispanic roots in the region.

The combination of chocolate with meat and spices is a technique also found in other Guatemalan dishes, such as plátanos en mole.