Sunday At The Market To Gorge: Xmas Tamales Have Heirloom Recipes

The Southwestern United States has a long tradition of making tamales, said to have originated with the Aztecs. They are a staple of Mexican cuisine, especially at Christmas time, and Texas and California make equal claims to it being a favorite dish of state...both states, as in common Hispanic American ground.

In Los Angeles, long before food trucks, there were horse drawn wagons that sold tamales throughout downtown, and in the 1980's, you could have been served a high end tamale dish by Jon Hamm, who was a waiter at Ciudad restaurant, owned by the Hot Tamale restaurateurs, Susan Milliken and Susan Feniger. Less fancy are the tamales sold at Taco Bell, a California based chain that last September was named the best Mexican Restaurant in the United States

There seems to be no more popular tamale in West Hollywood than the ones made by Reuben Ortega at the Farmer's Market. Susan and her two daughters have been getting tamales from Reuben for "a million years."

Jonathan Gold had a golden rule about especially good tamales people intend to serve come the holidays:

“It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to reserve your tamales pretty soon -- by the week before Christmas eve, every tamale will have been spoken for weeks earlier.”

Tamales freeze easily, once wrapped in their cornhusks. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Place the tamales in a steamer basket over gently boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated throughly. https://www.bhg.com/recipes/et...

This Sunday is one week before Christmas eve. If you’re risk averse as is my sister, here’s how to order these deliciosa tamales in advance: (beef, pork, chicken, pineapple and chile cheese, one of Reuben’s bestsellers.)

http://megustagourmettamales.c...