The common Day of the Dead dish made from corn dough and often wrapped before cooking is tamales.
A tamale is made from masa, a dough produced from nixtamalized corn. The dough may surround fillings such as pork, chicken, cheese, vegetables, chilies, fruit, or sweetened ingredients. It is commonly wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and steamed, after which the wrapping is removed before eating or used as a makeshift plate.
Tamales are a traditional Mesoamerican food with a history reaching well before the modern Mexican state. Maya evidence places tamales in the Classic period, roughly 200–1000 CE, and the dish has numerous regional forms across Mexico and Central America. The word tamal comes from the Nahuatl tamalli; the English singular “tamale” developed by treating the Spanish plural tamales as if it contained an English plural ending.
During Day of the Dead, tamales may be served to living family members and placed on ofrendas as offerings for deceased relatives. They are not the same as pan de muerto, a sweet bread, or sugar skulls, which are also associated with the holiday. Recipes vary greatly by region, so there is no single universal tamale filling or wrapper.