Tamal de puerco

For the green sauce, bring all the ingredients to a boil and then blend them together. Strain the sauce and set aside

Put all the ingredients for the red sauce in a saucepan with 480 ml water and cook over a medium–high heat for 15–20 minutes. Leave to cool down slightly

Transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth sauce. Alternatively, use a handheld stick/immersion blender. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within 3 days. You can pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve for an even smoother finish if you prefer

Brown the pork meat in a saucepan with a little oil. Once golden, add the salt and 1 litre of red sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook for 35 minutes or until the meat is soft. Set aside and let cool

To make the tamal dough, mix the duck fat and salt in a food mixer or in a large bowl. Add the nixtamalized corn dough and mix together until smooth. The dough should taste a bit salty, feel a bit loose and be easy to work with. If it's too hard the tamal will be dry. Add a bit of water or vegetable stock to make it more slack if necessary

Cook the banana leaves for 30 seconds in a large pot of boiling water. Once done, remove the leaves and let them dry for a few minutes

Place one leaf on the work surface and use your hand to spread about 60g of the tamal dough over the middle part of the leaf

Top with about 60g of the pork and sauce mixture

Use the outer edges of the leaf to fold the sides of the dough over the filling, enclosing it in the dough and making a square shape

Fold the leaf up so that it overlaps the filling and the folded edges, enclosing everything

Use a narrow strip of one of the spare leaves to securely tie the bottom edge of the parcel if you prefer. Repeat with the rest of the tamales

Preheat a steamer (tamalera). Add all the tamales in the steamer with care and leave to steam for 60 minutes over a medium heat

Serve straight away with some green sauce on the side