Reply #18: Similar idea, I think...

[troubleinwinter]

I was on the Zuni reservation, where each and every home has an outdoor clay oven.

In the morning, a wood fire is made to heat the oven, and bread is baked in it. The fire doesn't last long, wood is precious, so after the fire is out, when bread removed, but the oven is still warm, a pot of mutton stew is placed inside and the opening is sealed with clay. Many hours later, the clay is broken to remove the stew. The rather tough mutton is slow-cooked only by residual heat, and comes out wonderfully moist and tender.

Zuni make remarkable tamales, very different from Mexican. The outside corn mixture is very delicately thin and smooth as silk. The texture of the filling and an amazing amount of flavor is from very coarsely ground corn.