The Best Tamales Ever (that we know of)
Tonight we treated ourselves to some incredible tamales from a little mexican market in Encinitas called El Torito (not the restaurant chain!). The tamales were filled with pork in a red chile sauce and chicken in a tomatillo sauce.
Two Pork Tamales and One Chicken TamaleA: Mmm mmm mmm. these tamales are rockin!
T: Yes indeed. The best tamales I’ve had. I get them for lunch at work like once a week.
A: 🙂 it was an awesome find by your boss. I’m glad he told you about them. They really are the absolute best tamales i have ever eaten.
T: they are, but I feel that there must be better tamales out there. I mean, these are good, but I know the ingredients can hit a higher plane.
A: that’s true, but when i think about mexican food in general, i don’t really think of the best ingredients out there, so these fit in pretty well with my definition of “best”. We will always be on the hunt for better though.
T: i’m just talking about pork and corn cooked this way. I feel like it can get better. How in the heck do you learn how to make tamales, though? seems mysterious, like you can only learn if you’re lucky enough to have a mexican housekeeper to teach you or something.
A: or if you work at a mexican restaurant. or if you find a recipe by a good mexican chef and then work with it for a while till all the kinks are out. i’ve frequently thought to myself, “hmm…i think i should apply for a job at this place so i can learn how they’re making that!”
T: yeah, it’s a sure way to learn! it’s not too fun job-hopping… or maybe it is! Just not the most effective way to make a living.
A: not at all. and i really have never done that, but i really have thought it…several times. It’s very weird for me to have a job outside of the restaurant/food sector these days. Since i started working when i was sixteen i’ve been in restaurants. I’m gonna be sooo lazy by the time i leave the job i’m at now.
T: yeah restaurant jobs are definately some of the most demanding jobs out there. I only know that from having been a dishwasher at Louie’s diner a few years ago. So do you miss the food industry at all?
A: i’ll admit it, i do. There is something meditative about coming in and first thing in the morning just busting out hours of prep work and cooking and getting ready to be busy for a few prime hours. I really did always enjoy it. That said, it is hard work and the new job i have is not!
T: heheh now come in, bust out an hour of house work, and then watch movies and chat for 7 hours!
A: yup, you forgot that i also peruse the foodblogs, leave comments, play on flickr, look for apartments/houses/furniture/cars in online classified ads. man i have a hard job!
T: terribly. well, what’d’you give the tamales we had tonight?
A: Having said that these are the best tamales i’ve ever eaten, i must admit that tamales aren’t my favorite food in the world. With that in mind, i give this meal a 4.1/5. They were awesome tamales, but they were still tamales.
T: yeah, i’ll admit I’d much rather have a carnitas taco 🙂 I give these a 4/5. I would have given them a higher score a few weeks ago, but I’ve been eating them a lot lately.
A: hehehe… that’ll definately reduce their score. Are you sick of them yet?
T: ask me that when I’m not full from just having eaten them I might say no, but… uhh, yeah. I’m getting sick of them.
A: well, now that we’ve shared them with the rest of the world, i won’t force them on you in the evenings. Man, i could really go for something sweet right about now!
T: like what, carrot cake? 😉
A: 😛
T: seriously, though, what kind of sweet? (btw, if you’re wondering, Amanda always talks about how much she likes carrot cake)
A: i do love carrot cake! just something about carrot cake and cream cheese frosting that gets me going. i could go for something fruity, or cheescakey, or green tea ice creamy, or caramely, or cakey… or… or…or…
T: or…. beery?
A: EXACTLY! you read my mind, mista t!
T: we don’t have any beer.
A: that’s a problem we should resolve…soon
T: the thought of going to the grocery store makes me… want to do my taxes or something. sounds terrible.
A: just because the only thing around is Ralph’s and the line will reach the back of the store. speaking of taxes…
T: heheh, let’s not speak of taxes.
A: but we do need to put them in the mail tomorrow or saturday.
T: Did somebody say chocolate?
Kwaherini mabibi na mabwana!
mmmm super hash browns from louie’s….mmmmmmmmm
Those look incredible!
I will have to try those, never had them before!
incredible picture skills by the way. I’m working on it!
Ron
Pam: there is nothing so good at 3am as the heart clogging goodness of louies hashbrowns! it’s one of the (few) things i miss about BR.
Ivonne:They were!
Bea: you should definately give them a try! does boston have much authentic mexican food? if not, be weary, they can be bad… very bad… if not done correctly.
Ron: Thanks! you should see some our embarrassing earlier photos from when we first started. we definately had a lot of kinks to work out! you’ll get there soon.
I don’t know you, and I’m sure you’re good people. However, you don’t have to learn how to make tamales from your Mexican “housekeeper”; this Mexican cardio-thoracic surgeon teachers her friends how to make tamales every Christmas. If you are as great with food as you are with stereotypes these recipes should be fantastic. Cheers!
Dr. Velasco, I couldn’t agree more! What lead to my comment (which we did not mention) was that my boss had just made plans to learn tamale-making from his Mexican housekeeper. So I was referring to a specific person. Regardless, I want to make one thing clear: Amanda and I do not judge individuals on the basis of their race, ethnicity, nationality, education, or any other such things. End of story. If there is one group of people that we do have a problem with, it is people that hate others based on all that superficial crap. Thanks for speaking up, though… that’s what makes blogs so great!
p.s. If your surgery skills match your sarcasm, you can treat my thorax any day.