What are tamales?

In Detroit, there is no shortage of tamales. Tamales are a traditional pre-Hispanic dish rich in texture, full of flavor and a celebration of cultural diversity.

Tamales are made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The corn dough is spread in the leaf and then filled with either pork, beef, chicken, cheese or peppers. Depending on the region of the country the tamales are made, the meat can be prepared in a variety of sauces – red or green chile, or different types of moles.

Tamales can also be made of beans, rice, potatoes, and cheese, or can even be sweet, made of fresh or dried fruits – there are so many options! Many Latinx/Hispanic families associate tamales with the holidays, just like some people associate the holiday season with turkey, ham or pumpkin pie.

Why are tamales unique?

Wrapping tamales is very time-consuming since they are made individually, and the corn dough must be carefully spread on the chosen wrapping method. The tamales are then cooked in a steamer — add too much water, and they can become soggy; not enough water, and they become dry. Many agree that tamales taste even better a day after they’re made and reheated in a griddle, as some people like them crunchy (this is particularly the case with the ones made in corn husk).

Where to find tamales in Detroit

I spoke with a few businesses that are TechTown Detroit alumni in Southwest Detroit about their tamales and what makes them unique. Read about the businesses and be sure to visit them this holiday season!

Antojitos El Catracho | 4627 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, MI 48209 | 313-784-9361

Antojitos El Catracho

What region and country are your tamales from? 

Our tamales are representative of the El Negrito Yoro region in Honduras.

What type of tamales do you produce and what makes them unique? 

Our tamales have a special characteristic in their elaboration since we cook and season the dough before wrapping them in the exquisite and fragrant banana leaf, which is traditional since Honduras is a banana-producing country. We use pork or chicken; rice and vegetables are also added to our tamales, and some add olives. The highest sales occur during the Christmas season. We are unique because, in addition to the exquisite and savory tamales and other dishes on our menu, we are the only brick-and-mortar business in Detroit that offers food from Honduras. In addition to the catracho flavor inherited by Sandra’s mother, a bit of Salvadoran flavor contributed by chef Hilda Recinos; as well as a Caribbean and Mexican touch learned from his years in this country, thus attracting a very wide clientele of different nationalities.

Who taught you or inspired you to make them? 

The art of making tamales is transmitted from mother to daughter, generation after generation. Being away from our country and remembering Christmas and other holidays in which tamales are custom serves as inspiration in this country where we are so nostalgic for our typical or traditional foods.

Fun fact:

Tamales are also served at funerals, and as they say in Honduras, “Whether the body is taken to glory or not, the tamales have to be given.”

La Cuscatleca, Inc. | 6343 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48210 | 313-894-4373

La Cuscatleca, Inc.

What region and country are your tamales from? 

Our tamales are from El Salvador in Central America.

What type of tamales do you produce and what makes them unique? 

We sell different types of tamales. One that is made of fresh corn and wrapped in fresh corn leaves. This type of tamal is brought directly from El Salvador. The other types (wrapped in banana leaves) are made in-house and are made of chicken or pork; they are a tradition during the holidays.

We also have pisques tamales, which are made with seasoned corn dough mixed with refried beans and then carefully wrapped in banana leaves. The dough is prepared when the corn grains are very soft – not completely matured. The pisques tamales – beans and corn, and the ones made of pork or chicken – are all steamed. Plus, you can accompany your tamales with a delicious atole, a traditional Central American hot beverage.

What makes our tamales unique is the seasoning. We use products brought directly from El Salvador, plus the love and effort that is put into it when making them. We are also unique because we are the only place in the city that sells tamales from El Salvador —most places in Detroit sell tamales from Mexico.

Who taught you or inspired you to make them? 

We originally started doing them from our house for about 10 years. Then we moved to our current brick-and-mortar where we have been located for about 10 years. My grandmother started making them, then my mother, and now we continue the tradition.

What inspires us is our customers. They come to us knowing that we will serve authentic food and products from El Salvador, so we serve with them in mind. While we have many customers from El Salvador, in general, our clientele is very diverse.

Fun fact: 

We sell more than tamales! We have a market and a restaurant that offers a variety of food and products from El Salvador.

Mangonadas del Barrio | 1210 Lawndale St., Detroit, MI 48209 | 313-724-6074

Mangonadas del Barrio

What region and country are your tamales from? 

Our tamales are a fusion from the states of Tamaulipas and Guanajuato in Mexico

What type of tamales do you produce and what makes them unique? 

We make our tamales in cornhusks. They are filled with pork with red sauce, chicken with green sauce, and rajas de chile con queso (poblano pepper slices with cheese). We sell them throughout the year, but the highest sales season is during the winter due to the holidays since tamales are one of the main dishes served on Christmas. We started selling tamales only in the colder winter months, but the clients kept asking for them. We now make them all year round and sell about 30-40 dozen daily and around 100-120 dozen during the high season.

What makes us unique is the flavor. Customers shared with us how much they like the tamales’ texture from the lard. In addition to the tamales, we also have champurrado, a pre-Hispanic drink made with a mix of cinnamon, chocolate and piloncillo. Piloncillo is a sweetener that is not processed or bleached and is much healthier and more nutritious than white sugar. Both tamales and champurrado are a staple of Mexican cuisine.

Who taught you or inspired you to make them? 

Tamales are part of our holiday celebration. They remind us of our holidays, traditions and the gathering of our large families. Throughout the year, the main products we offer are different types of snacks, amongst them, our signature snack — our mouthwatering dessert of mangonadas. However, during the winter, we introduced tamales as part of our hot menu. Although we are originally from Guanajuato, we make them in a unique fusion of styles from Guanajuato, our home state, and Tamaulipas, Mrs. Deyanira’s home state. She has been working with us since the founding of Mangonadas.

Fun fact: 

We also sell the tamal sandwich, which is a tamal in Mexican bread (bolillo). This type of tamal is a popular Mexican street food item that is usually consumed for breakfast. We add sour cream with either red or green sauce.

Tamaleria Nuevo Leon | 2669 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, MI 48216 | 313-962-8066

Tamaleria Nuevo Leon

What region and country are your tamales from? 

There are 32 states in Mexico, and each one makes tamales differently. The northeastern states (Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas) all similarly make tamales. Like the name of our shop, our tamales are from Nuevo León.

What type of tamales do you produce and what makes them unique? 

Ours are Nuevo León style, not too big with just the right amount of masa (dough made from nixtamalized corn) with meat. The most popular tamal is filled with pork. We also have pork with jalapeño, chicken cooked with green salsa (not spicy), beef, cheese with jalapeño, and refried beans. The sweet ones are pineapple, coconut, cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins.

We start with soaking our cornhusk which we imported from Mexico (you can’t find this “hojas” in the U.S.). Then we apply the corn dough that we get daily from the local tortilla factory. The masa is prepared with chile ancho that is soaked and ground up, and then we add baking powder, salt and lard (you can substitute it with oil also but it will change the original recipe and more importantly the flavor).

They are unique because they are handmade every single day. We have customers that will buy them and ship them as far away as Tokyo, South Korea, London, Paris, the Netherlands, and Australia. Our tamales were even shipped to the White House during President Jimmy Carter’s administration. The highest season for tamales is from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Our busiest days are from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24 when we sell about 5,000 pounds of masa to families making their own tamales and 100,000 tamales within nine days.

Who taught you or inspired you to make them? 

I can say my mom taught me, although she did not actually sit me down and tell me how to make them. I would watch her make them day in and day out since 1957. What keeps me going is her spirit and dedication to the art of making tamales over the years. Hispanic families get together at Christmas with their recipes handed down from the grandmothers to the new generations to make tamales during the holidays. I love that they get together to teach the next generation something that has been passed down from our ancestors.

Fun fact:

Mexico’s “capital of tamales” is a city in the state of Nuevo León called Juarez. In Juarez, you can find stores selling them right next to each other, block after block.