In Texas, the holiday tamale order goes in before the turkey does. By mid-November the dozens are spoken for, the steamers are running in back kitchens all over town, and somebody in every family has already been told to go pick them up.
Tamales are older than Thanksgiving by a few thousand years. They go back to Mesoamerica, where masa wrapped in a corn husk or leaf made a portable meal and a feast-day food. In Mexican and Tejano homes, the big batch still comes out for the holidays, usually made over a long day called a tamalada, with an assembly line of aunts, cousins and kids spreading masa on husks.
Most of us don’t have a tamalada to show up to anymore. These three kitchens are the next best thing, and one of them made a tamale that tastes like Thanksgiving.
Abel Gonzales is the man State Fair crowds know as Fried Jesus, the inventor of Fried Coke and fried butter. His Texican restaurant on Harry Hines has closed, but Gonzales is still in that kitchen making small-batch tamales for the season, and the one to order for Thanksgiving is The Original Turkey & Dressing, served with a cranberry salsa. It’s the holiday plate folded into a corn husk. Gonzales also smokes his own meat for the Smoked Brisket and Smoked Pork tamales, and he makes a Traditional Pork and a Green Chile Chicken.
Orders come 10 large tamales to a pack, with hot sauce included. The Turkey & Dressing is $24, Smoked Brisket is $34, Smoked Pork is $25, and Traditional Pork and Green Chile Chicken are $22 each. There’s also pozole at $13 a quart. Holiday orders are picked up at 7101 Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas starting Nov. 11. To reserve, text or call 214-868-8125.
Elvira’s Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory in Oak Cliff is the old-school stop. It’s a working tortilla and tamale shop, where tamales come out of the steamer and go home by the dozen. It’s at 309 N. Marsalis Ave. and is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. It can sell out, so call ahead at 214-943-7681.
Ibarra’s Tortilleria on the North Side of Fort Worth has been making tortillas and tamales since 1973 and calls itself a tamales command center. Along with pork and chicken, it makes a brisket tamale. It’s at 1109 NW 25th St. and is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s closed Monday and Tuesday. Order by phone at 817-625-6391.
A tamale reheats best the way it was cooked. Steam it in its husk for 15 to 20 minutes, and unwrap it at the table.
