See quotation.
1893. A tamale is a curious and dubious combination of chicken hash, meal, olives, red pepper, and I know not what, enclosed in a corn-husk, steamed until furiously hot, and then offered for sale by Mexicans in such a sweet, appealing way that few can resist the novelty.—Kate Sanborn, ‘A Truthful Woman in Southern California,’ p. 29. (N.E.D.) (Italics in the original.)
