Sonoran recipe once again wins Food City’s 23rd annual tamal contest in Phoenix

Displaying unflinching loyalty to its proximity to the border, Sonoran cuisine was once again crowned the victor in the 23rd Tamale Making Contest, a yearly celebration of a dish that unites Latino families across borders and generations.

Resembling the family tamal-making gatherings known as “tamaladas,” the Dec. 13 competition at one of the Valley’s largest Hispanic markets featured recipes that preserve cultural identity, honor family history and evoke cherished memories.

As they spread the masa on corn husks and banana leaves and carefully folded each tamal, competitors said they recalled with nostalgia the moments spent preparing the dish with their loved ones in their homelands.

“It's a very beautiful tradition that not everyone has and not everyone has the opportunity to create memories of making tamales with their mother, mother-in-law, grandparents, aunts. But we do,” said Christian “El Ruffian” Martínez, radio host with La Tricolor 103.5, Food City’s partner promoting the competition.

As the air filled with the rich aroma of steaming tamales on that late Saturday morning, dozens of community members came together for the grand finale, where representatives from Food City, the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, the Greater Phoenix Chamber and Telemundo judged the finalists.

Oyuki Osuna’s red chile and pork tamal recipe from Sonora, Mexico — passed down through generations in her family — was the judges’ favorite, earning her first place along with a $500 Food City gift card and a $1,000 credit from Mueblería Del Sol.

For Osuna, a small-business owner in the Valley who sells tamales, the tradition of preparing them brings families together in a spirit of community and joy.

“Being together, traditions, meals — it's all so beautiful, especially at this time of year when memories come flooding back of where we learned to cook and the sazon of our grandparents' family recipes,” said Claudia Contreras, one of the 12 tamal-making contestants.

Hosted by Food City, the tamal-making competition seeks to honor the cultural significance of this emblematic Mesoamerican dish that is prepared beyond Latin American countries.

“It's a tradition we hold very dear to our hearts,” said Carrie Strait, Food City’s brand manager at Bashas' Family of Stores, in an interview with CALÓ News. “Tamale season is important to our customers and our community and to us, and we want to celebrate the togetherness that comes from being in a tamalada and people joining together to make food and to make those memories together.”

Honoring those sacred family memories is especially important to Elena Bustamante, who lost her mother, Patricia Bustamante, when she passed away eight years ago. Returning to the contest — after winning two years ago with her Sonoran-style red chili and pork tamales — means keeping her mother’s recipe and legacy alive.

“‘Someday, amá, I’m going to take you. I think you would win,’” Bustamante said she would tell her mom. “And that’s what I regret the most — I never took her. Now, every time I’m here competing, she is with me.”

While tamal-making traditions span generations, they can also evolve, especially when carried across borders. Rosamaria Camacho from San Antonio, Texas, and her husband Eliseo Corral from Guaymas, Sonora, decided to compete with a tamal that fuses ingredients from their families’ recipes — like cheese, green peppers and potato — into one creation.

The pork red chili tamales with potatoes, wrapped in banana leaves, that won second place — made by Dimas Toledo and Hilda Larios — combine the culinary traditions of their homestates, Chiapas and Veracruz, Mexico. Last year, their banana-leaf-wrapped tamal with beef and masa mixed with chipilin also won second place.

Because tamales can be filled with vegetables, meat, cheese or even sweets, they come in a variety of flavors, each telling the story of the region where they are made.

Yanira M. Oliva’s Salvadoran tamales filled with chicken, potatoes, olives, recado sauce and wrapped in banana leaves reflect the story of the homeland she left 45 years ago with her family. Oliva learned the recipe from her grandmother and mother, and she hopes her children will continue to preserve this recipe's cultural identity for future generations.

“I bring a little piece of my country for the world to love and for the people of Phoenix, Arizona, to get to know,” she said.

None of the participants left empty-handed, as the Arizona Pork Council gifted each of them with the ingredients to make tamales at home and a Food City gift card to buy other necessities.

Community members savored tamales bursting with diverse ingredients, each bite reflecting their commitment to keep this multicultural heritage tradition alive.

Nicole Macias Garibay is a transborder storyteller and bilingual journalist from the U.S.-Mexico border. Her upbringing crossing the border on the daily fuels her drive to report on migration, Latino culture and the Hispanic community. She wrote for La Voz-The Arizona Republic, interned at Telemundo Arizona and launched VOCES, a bilingual magazine dedicated to telling stories para la comunidad, por la comunidad.