Tamales date back 10,000 years, sold in 34,000 eateries in US today
Tamales are one of the hottest topics in the American food scene — proving that food-on-the-run paired with great flavor never goes out of style.
Social conversations about tamales exploded 47% over the past year, according to Tastewise, a new platform that uses artificial intelligence to find food trends by tracking social media, restaurant menus and digital content.
The platform found that about 34,000 eateries in the United States serve tamales: a corn dough wrap called masa, filled with any of an array of meats, vegetables and spices, then steamed inside corn husks or banana leaves.
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"We love tamales for a very simple reason," Texas tamale legend Lucy Rascon told Fox News Digital. "Because they're delicious."
Tamales enjoy remarkable cultural currency today for any food, let alone a culinary tradition that's among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere.
Lucy Rascon, center, the owner of Lucy's Kitchen in Vega, Texas, learned to make tamales from her grandmother as a girl in Mexico. She passed on the family tradition to daughters Liz Rascon-Alaniz, left, and Sandy Rascon-Godoy. (Shannon Richardson/Brick and Elm)
Rascon, the owner of Lucy's Kitchen in Vega, Texas, learned to make tamales from her grandmother in Mexico, who likely learned from her grandmother — and from many grandmothers before then, since humans first arrived in the Americas.
"The Aztecs believed that Tzitzimitl, grandmother of the god Chicomexóchitl, created the first tamales," food culture website TastingTable reported last month.
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"While archaeologists have yet to discover evidence that the first tamales were created by a god, records do suggest they may date back 10,000 years — making them one of the oldest dishes still eaten today."
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan missionary from Spain, recorded his first encounters with tamales after arriving in the New World in 1529.
A man cooks tamales during the traditional new year's pot trip (paseo de olla) at the Pance river in Cali, Colombia, on Jan. 1, 2023. Researchers believe tamales were first made by indigenous people in Central America as much as 10,000 years ago, one of the world's oldest prepared foods. (JOAQUIN SARMIENTO/AFP via Getty Images)
"Tasty, tasty, very tasty, very well made … savory, of pleasing odor," he wrote.
Ingredients included "chili, salt, tomatoes, gourd seeds" paired with an array of meats: turkey, fish, rabbit, frog and gopher, among others.
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Yelp.com lists the top-rated tamales across the United States right now.
Among those topping the tamale ticker in several large cities: Yolanda’s Tamales in New York City; Senorita’s Tamales in Los Angeles, California; Latin American Market in Miami, Florida; and Tamale Boy in San Antonio, Texas.
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Many Texans, however, swear by the age-old family-tradition tamales served at Lucy’s Kitchen in Vega, a whistlestop town of fewer than 1,000 people on the Panhandle west of Amarillo.
Chicken Tamale wrapped in a banana leaf featured at Pupuseria Y Panaderia Emanuel on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in Houston. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Lucy Rascon let slip one secret to the popularity of her tamales: "More meat, less masa," she said.
Rascon prepares her tamales by sight, feel and instinct instead of a recipe.
She has since passed on the family gift to her daughters, Liz Rascon-Alaniz and Sandy Rascon-Godoy.
"They’re both very successful business girls, but they still like to come together to cook tamales," said Rascon.
Tamales from Lucy's Kitchen in Vega, Texas. Owner Lucy Rascon learned to make tamales from her grandmother as a girl in Mexico. Tamales were first made 10,000 years ago in Central America. (Shannon Richardson/Brick & Elm)
"Tamales are a tradition that will never die."
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Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
