Tucson celebrates 20 years of its Tamal & Heritage Festival, honoring borderland flavors

Versión en español

TUCSON – With a cultural and gastronomic exchange, primarily from Sonora and Arizona, the 20th edition of the Tucson Tamal & Heritage Festival took place on Saturday at Casino del Sol, where, in addition to sampling delicious dishes, several people went home with cash prizes after winning the tamal contest.

The venue was filled with a combination of aromas, flavors and tradition.

With classic tamales filled with green and red chile, various meats and sweet ingredients, live mariachi and norteño music and performances of traditional dances from the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater transformed into a multicultural zone.

Julián Hernández, chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, shared with CALÓ News that the festival is held to bring families together during the Christmas season. There were approximately 200 food vendors from different regions of Mexico and restaurants from Tucson. "There's something for everyone, all kinds of tamales," he said.

According to the website of the Mexican government's Ministry of Agriculture, the tamal is a Mexican food made from corn, filled with various ingredients and cooked in a package of plant leaves such as corn husks, banana leaves, reeds, chilaca leaves or papatla leaves. Approximately 500 tamal recipes are registered throughout the country, resulting in about 3,000 to 4,000 different preparations, depending on family customs, inventions and adaptations.

Each cook brought their family heritage to the event. "Everyone makes the tamales with their own recipe, the way their family makes them; it's the flavor they carry from their family," said Hernández, who explained that three first-place winners are chosen per category, but an overall winner is also crowned and given recognition for making the best tamales in Tucson.

The diversity of attendees was as varied as the tamal offerings.

The festival wasn't limited to just corn dishes — in the parking lot, there were Salvadoran pupusas, Mexican tacos, Caribbean flavors from Puerto Rico, South American cuisine from Venezuela, homemade ice cream and other treats that seemed to complete a culinary tour of the continent. Vendors selling clothing, accessories and other goodies complemented the multicultural market.

At noon, the judges began tasting the tamales to give their scores. Four hours later, the winners were announced. 

The overall winner of the contest was the team from Perfecto's Mexican Restaurant, which also took first place in the traditional tamal category and second place in the green corn category. 

Chef Juan Ángel Vásquez, from Hermosillo, Sonora, who attended the event as a guest judge, told CALÓ News that it is very admirable that flavors and seasonings like those of Mexico are achieved, with their particularities and varieties of corn and meat.

One might think, he said, "that in the United States you won't find this quality and this flavor so close to that of Mexico, but it does exist, and I think it's part of a culture that lives here and brings all its traditions and pride to another country."

Carlos Benítez, radio host of La Poderosa 990 AM, known as "El Compa Charly," was another of the guest judges. He highlighted that he had also participated as a judge in previous years and that, on occasion, there have been winners from other countries.

This time, one that caught his attention was the chamoy-based tamal, he commented.

Sergio Kitchen was one of the many stalls selling tamales, including the mangoneada tamal. The owner, Sergio, commented that they have been participating in the festival for seven years. He doesn't have a restaurant, but his father sings at the Swap Meet, and together they sell tamales.

The best-selling ones are the meat and corn tamales, followed by the mole tamal, and finally, the chicken in green chili tamal. They sell a new mangoneada tamal, which they make with mango, chamoy, Tajín chili powder and Valentina hot sauce, he said.

Among the vendors in the parking lot was Carlos García, originally from Puerto Rico, in his "guagua," or food truck. He shared that Puerto Rican food has a lot of flavor but isn't spicy. “What defines us is the plantains, the mofongo (a traditional Puerto Rican dish), something very typical of Puerto Rico. I make it with shrimp and pieces of pork or steak,” said García, who also owns the Batey Puerto Rican Gastronomy restaurant.

As evening fell, the festival left behind not only delicious aromas but also a meeting point for different cultures. Amidst tamales and dishes from different countries, gastronomy brought together diverse communities.