Tis’ The Season For Tamale’s Fa La La La, Here are the Best in Boise!

I grew up in Southern California surrounded by large Hispanic families and during this time of the year, it was all about the Tamales! I remember helping my friends make tamales, and then hoping that the next person to walk through the bar this time of the year was selling tamales.

Why are tamales so popular around this time of the year?

According to the Los Angeles Times "In Mesoamerica, from whence they hail, corn was viewed as the precious substance of life. It was believed that the gods made humans from corn. Wrapped tamales were part of ritual offerings. After the conquistadors arrived and banned human sacrifice, little bundles of corn — tamales — were “sacrificed” instead."

There are also different variations of tamales from mole tamales, to red pork chili tamales and green corn tamales.

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What's in a Tamale?

As you know people make things different and that includes tamales, so you'll need to find a tamale you like and hopefully, one day can recreate that. This is for a red pork chili tamale, one of my favorites.

I found this recipe online from muybuenocookbook.com includes:

• 7-8 pounds of pork butt or pork shoulder
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 6 1/2 cups red chile sauce
• 1 batch Tamale Masa
• Corn Husks

What does the Tamale scene look like in Boise?

Well, I was surprised to find multiple locations throughout the Treasure Valley that have tamales and that makes me happy. According to Yelp, these are the best places to get tamales in the Treasure Valley!