Self taught in making tamales. Lot of work, but I think they are worth the effort. If you give it a try, use lard for the tamale dough.
Definitely a drinking sport. I got invited to a tamale bee - Mexicans share the pain and expense for a day of work together but everybody leaves with four dozen, sweet AND savory - in my teens and remember every minute of it.
The mexicans *insisted* on Gebhardt’s chili powder, which you could not buy in bulk at the time so there were 25 empty bottles of it after we all ante’d up.
Gruesome scene. A whole hog head is simmered overnight, with bits of other meat thrown in, but the dulce - sweet - tamales were just a delight to make.