A tamal is made corn dough and can contain any sort of filling, from shredded beef and peppers, to strawberry juice and pineapple chunks.
The more widely popular Mexican version is wrapped in a corn husk and steamed; the Salvadorean version is wrapped in a bannana leaf and often contains garbanzo beans.
I'm not sure if this counts, as obviosly, it's a Spanish word, not English.
There is no such thing as a tamale (pronounced tah-mallee). The singular is tamal, the plural is tamales.
submitted by CM
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