Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.

My first New Orleans-style hot tamale came from the back of a camper parked in a vacant lot on the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Killingsworth Street right here in Portland. The hand-painted sign out front advertised Ed’s “Luzana Style” tamales, and at three for a dollar, they were a popular snack in the 1980s-era, yet-to-be-gentrified neighborhood.

Edward Dines, aka Louisiana Ed, came to Oregon in the 1960s toward the end of the second great migration. He and his wife Doris left the South, but it never left Ed, and he introduced a generation of Portlanders to the small, wet, paper-wrapped, cornmeal hot tamales of New Orleans.

While the adjective “hot” may not have any relevance to the flavor or temperature, in the South it’s always hot tamale. They’re made all over the Mississippi Delta, some say introduced to the area by Mexican farm workers in the early 1900s. But the New Orleans version is unique. They’re rolled in paper instead of corn husks, simmered in a spicy, tomato-y broth rather than steamed, and consist of chile-spiked ground meat with only a thin layer of the corn-based dough that characterizes more traditional tamales. They’re messy, a little greasy, and delicious.

I hadn’t thought much about Louisisana Ed’s hot tamales until I met Merlin Fleury. We’d gone to a bar in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans to listen to trumpeter Kermit Ruffins. The place was packed, but an older couple waved us over to share their table. When the band took a break, Fleury told us about his history with hot tamales and the then-closed family restaurant. When I asked if I could find hot tamales anywhere in town, he told me to come back the next day, because he sold them out of the trunk of his car in front of the bar.

I did and Merlin’s hot tamales were great. While I’ve been tempted to try to make them, the process is labor intensive. But I could get the same flavors, if not quite the same experience, with a much easier-to-make tamale pie. This version includes a simple beef chili that includes the Louisiana “trinity” of seasoning vegetables: onion, celery and pepper. I left out corn, beans, cheese, and other classic tamale pie ingredients so the flavor would be closer to Louisiana Ed’s.

New Orleans-Style Hot Tamale Pie

For the ground beef:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 jalapeño, chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the corn-based dough:

1 1/2  cups cornmeal

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon kosher-style sea salt

In a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or similar oven-proof pan, cook the ground beef in the olive oil with salt, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. When most of the pink is gone, add the onion, celery and jalapeño along with the chili powder. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft, then add the tomatoes. Cook for another few minutes, then remove from heat and use a spoon to spread the chili in an even layer.

In a bowl, stir together the cornmeal, chili powder and salt. Mix in the olive oil, then add the boiling water and mix well. Carefully pour the batter over the chili in the skillet, using a spoon to spread it into a thin layer that completely covers the chili. Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the top is set and beginning to brown.