Tamales appears as a signature dish in 2 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Red chile pork tamales · Albuquerque
Masa wrapped pork in corn husks, steamed and unwrapped at the table, the Christmas Eve and New Year tradition across Albuquerque kitchens and counters.
Tamales arrived in New Mexico with Spanish colonists from central Mexico in the 1600s and adapted to local pork, red chile and Pueblo cornmeal. The Christmas Eve tamale-making tradition is family work: extended families gather to assemble dozens at a time. El Modelo and ABC Cake Shop sell ready made tamales by the dozen through December for households that no longer make their own.
Where to eat in Albuquerque:
- El Modelo Mexican Foods
- ABC Cake Shop and Bakery
- Sadie's of New Mexico
- Garcia's Kitchen Fourth Street
Tamales · San Antonio
Tamales are masa spread on a corn husk, filled with pork in red chile, chicken or beans, folded and steamed until tender. In San Antonio they are a Christmas tradition, made by the dozen across the West Side.
The tamal is one of the oldest dishes in Mesoamerican cooking, and in San Antonio the holiday tamalada, the family gathering to make tamales by the hundred, is a deep-rooted December ritual. Mexican-American families and West Side spots like Tellez produce them by the dozen through the holidays, and the city holds an annual tamales festival celebrating the masa-and-pork tradition.
Where to eat in San Antonio:
- Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa
- Mi Tierra Cafe y Panaderia