Chiles & Cheese

First, the cheese. It should be queso mexicano, preferably from the state of Jalisco, aged just enough so that it has a rind, but retaining the soft, fresh, cool, devotional interior of a French pain de mie, akin to the sacralized sensation of burying your face in the beloved's neck.

Next, the chiles. Our favorite is a combination of fresh pasilla peppers (the ones used for chiles rellenos) and fresh jalapeños.

Finally, the corn husks. They must be dried corn husks (fresh or green cornhusks are used for tamales de elote or green-corn tamales, and the leaves of the corn plant are used for tamales de ceniza, or corundas if you hail from Michoacán). The dried corn husks are soaked in water until pliant, and cleaned of all stray strands of corn silk. Then they are spread with the masa, blessed with the cheese and peppers, and folded up into purses of pleasure.