Tamales make for Tucson holiday tradition

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TUCSON, Arizona (KGUN) – When you think of a typical celebratory meal, most American families might think that the focus is on turkey or fried ham as the main course.

However, Tucson as a community has grown over decades and centuries with strong cultural influence from Mexico and Central America. To this end, local families can instead ring in the Christmas dinner with a basket of hot, freshly made tamales.

With just a few weeks to go until December 25th, a local grocery company that specializes in making corn masa is fulfilling hundreds of carton orders every day.

Reflecting the spirit of southern Arizona, KGUN 9 took a tour of their factory floor with the founders and owners of the Tucson Tamale Company.

CEO Sherry Martin keeps a framed copy of her mother’s recipe for green corn tamales in a corner office. This home-style cooking not only brings back warm memories of the holidays, but also the intense love work that goes into preparing the meal.

“It was an all-day event,” said Martin. “Everyone who has made tamales knows that your neighbors will come over, your family will come over … you decide you want to make tamales, you have to plan for it.”

This type of planning still requires a lot of hands in the kitchen to carry out. In the case of Martin’s company, an entire floor of workers mix the “masa” and fold the corn husks or “hojas” in preparation for the holiday rush. “People send tamales to their friends, their families, their customers,” said Martin. “Tamales are served at every Thanksgiving table, but Christmas is sure to be a big Christmas, isn’t it?”

Sherry and her husband Todd Martin said they regularly take large numbers of orders during November and December. The couple studied the history of tamales for a long time before starting a new company about 12 years ago.

“They were the original fast food,” said Sherry.

“If you think about it, the Aztecs and Incas ground the corn into protein, which is typically beans, wrapped it in the ‘hoja’ and … that was a convenient way to travel with food.”

Martin also references a theory about why Mexican families over time had a tradition of eating tamales during the holidays. Historians have suggested that once Spanish colonizers converted various indigenous tribes to Christianity, tamales could symbolize a mother bearing life, which is an important part of the Christmas holiday.

At the heart of everything, Martin said, she believes that the perfect food is to celebrate with loved ones and share their culture. Perhaps even more personal, the delicacies still carry a piece of her mother’s love in them.

“I know she would be really proud of what we do,” she said. “I love hearing people talk about making tamales and continuing that tradition in their kitchens and with their families and children.”

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