Steamed corn masa parcels wrapped in corn husk or banana leaf, filled with chicken in mole, pork in red or green salsa, rajas con queso or sweet versions with strawberry. Eaten with atole for breakfast.
Tamales date to Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, originally a portable food for the Aztec army made from nixtamalised corn masa wrapped in corn husks. Spanish lard transformed the texture after 1521. The modern Mexico City tamal includes the corn-husk style of the highlands and the banana-leaf style brought from Veracruz and Oaxaca. The Feria del Tamal runs every January 29 to February 2 at the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares in Coyoacan for Candelaria.
4 editor picks for Tamales in Mexico City, ranked by editorial score. All Mexico City signature dishes · Tamales across every city.
El Cardenal ★ 4.6
centro-historico · Calle de la Palma 23, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
El Cardenal in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 Centro Historico room on Palma, the traditional Mexican breakfast institution where hot chocolate is frothed tableside with raw-milk nata.
Azul Historico ★ 4.4
centro-historico · Isabel la Catolica 30, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
Azul Historico in Mexico City is chef Ricardo Munoz Zurita's traditional Mexican kitchen inside the courtyard of the Downtown Mexico hotel on Isabel la Catolica, with Mexican regional moles as the spine.
Cafe de Tacuba ★ 4.3
centro-historico · Calle de Tacuba 28, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
Cafe de Tacuba in Mexico City is the Mollinedo family's 1912 Centro Historico room on Tacuba, the colonial-palace dining hall that defines traditional Mexican capital cooking.
Tamales Dona Emi ★ 4.2
roma-norte · Esquina Av. Alvaro Obregon and Calle Cordoba, Roma Norte, Cuauhtemoc, 06700 Ciudad de Mexico
Tamales Dona Emi in Mexico City is the Roma Norte morning tamal cart on the corner of Alvaro Obregon and Cordoba, the weekday breakfast stand that wraps verde, rojo, mole and sweet tamales by 11:00.