Wrapped in History: How the Tamale Became a Delta Icon

Wrapped in History: How the Tamale Became a Delta Icon

On a summer afternoon in the Mississippi Delta, the heat sits as heavy as old wisdom, and a simple paper plate bearing a small, cornmeal-wrapped bundle delivers more history than any textbook ever could. The tamale—an unassuming parcel of corn, meat, and spice—seems an unlikely ambassador for a region better known for cotton rows and blues ballads. Yet in the flat, fertile sweep of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, bound loosely by the Peabody Hotel …