History

Tamales in Fort Worth are woven into the Near Northside neighbourhood's Mexican-American identity, a community that built up around the Stockyards in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Mexican labourers arrived to work the meatpacking trade. Home tamale-making was a communal tradition, particularly around Christmas and Dia de los Muertos, when extended families gathered for tamaladas, the collective steaming sessions that produced hundreds of tamales at once. Esperanza's Restaurant and Bakery on North Main Street became the institutional guardian of this tradition, keeping the house masa recipe and braised filling consistent across decades of operation.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 12Hands-on 2 hrTotal 5 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500 g masa harina (Maseca or similar)
  • 180 g lard or vegetable shortening
  • 500 ml warm chicken or pork broth
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 300 g pork shoulder, slow-braised and shredded
  • 150 ml red chile sauce (from guajillo and ancho chiles)
  • 24 dried corn husks, soaked in warm water for 1 hour

Method

  1. Beat lard with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a separate bowl mix masa harina, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Add the masa mix to the lard alternating with warm broth, mixing until you have a soft dough that spreads easily. A small ball of masa should float in water when properly hydrated.
  3. Combine shredded pork with red chile sauce until well coated. Season with salt.
  4. Shake excess water from a soaked corn husk. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of masa across the upper two-thirds of the husk, leaving 3 cm bare on the sides and the entire narrow bottom.
  5. Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the pork filling down the centre of the masa.
  6. Fold the long sides of the husk over the filling so the masa edges meet and enclose the filling completely, then fold the narrow bottom end up.
  7. Stand the tamales upright, open-end up, in a steamer basket over 5 cm of simmering water.
  8. Cover tightly and steam for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, adding water as needed. Tamales are done when the masa separates cleanly from the husk.

Tip from the editors. The masa consistency is the most common failure point. It should spread like soft peanut butter. If it tears, add more warm broth.

Where to eat fort worth tamales

Fort Worth tamales in Fort Worth

Esperanza's ★ 4.3

$ MexicanStockyards

Esperanza's on N Main St in Fort Worth is a family-run Mexican bakery-cafe serving fresh house-baked pan dulce and breakfast tacos from 06:30 every day.

OrderHuevos rancheros, pan dulce from the in-house bakery, breakfast tacos with chorizo.

TipFresh pan dulce comes out from 06:30. Arrive early for the widest sweet-bread selection. Breakfast tacos sell fast on weekday mornings.

Directions

Reata Restaurant ★ 4.5

$$$ SouthwesternDowntown

Reata Restaurant in Fort Worth returned to its original Throckmorton St home, serving the celebrated West Texas ranch cooking that made it famous.

OrderTenderloin tamales, cowboy ribeye, tres leches cake.

TipLunch is a great-value way to sample the kitchen. The rooftop terrace has sweeping downtown views, ideal in cooler months.

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