Thursday may have been extremely cold, but the lobby of Lalumiere Language Hall was filled with the warmth and scent of the Horchata and Tamale Sale put on by the Latin American Student Organization. With containers of tamales filled to the brim, the LASO members sat to sell the homemade goods.
Salma Nunez, a junior in the College of Business Administration and the fundraising coordinator for LASO, said that even though the club has been around since at least 2012, this is the year they described as their “comeback” year.
Nunez said this event was a fundraiser that required significant hard work and thought.
“I feel like, who doesn’t love tamales?” Nunez said. “I thought it will be a great way to bring in money for the organization and to spread our culture. I decided to do this because we had general members come and help us prepare it.”
She said she always had tamales around Christmastime, so the sale also brought back memories.
Nunez, along with Stephanie Salas, a junior in the College of Health Sciences and the public relations officer for LASO, said the tamales were homemade and took them until about 2 a.m. the day of the sale to complete.
“We started at 6 p.m., and then they were all in the pot by 7:30 p.m. … We took six hours,” Salas said.
For preparation, they made a practice batch so that when the time came, the tamales would be good enough to sell. Making them was no easy task.
To make the tamales, they first had to marinate the chicken. They then had to add masa to the corn husk before spreading the chicken inside it, making sure it was placed upright in the pan and that there was always water in the pan. Along with prepping the chicken, they made the sauces. Once all of that was done, the tamales spent the remaining six hours steaming.
The club is important to its members, especially those who worked to make the event happen.
Ashley David, a first-year in the College of Nursing, said the club is a key part of her life.
“For us, (it’s) to get together and be a family,” David said.
Nunez said the club helped her find a Latinx community on campus.
“I thought it was a sense of home for me, so I could feel included in my culture and share similar issues that I have with the Latinx students on campus,” Nunez said.
Salas shared similar sentiments, saying she hopes the club and the event bring awareness to the Latin presence on campus.
“It just shows we’re around and that we’re trying to be active in the community and bring Marquette all together,” Salas said. “It shows how much work we put into it and how much we care about LASO.”
David said an important aspect of the event to her was to bring more appreciation for their culture.
LASO has other events coming up in March, such as a trivia night and a game night, Nunez said. It will also will have a dance with Spanish music.
This story was written by Ariana Madson. She can be reached at [email protected].
