this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
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I Didn’t Have Eggs
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I've never seen a tamale, let alone eaten one, but I was still pretty sure the corn husk wasn't supposed to be eaten.
You are missing out my friend. Seriously one of the top foods
Do you mean the tamale or the corn husk?
Yes
I've had a couple over the years and was totally unimpressed. It wasn't bad, just kinda bland mush. I guess it must vary a lot given how you're rating it
There is a guy who shows up with a cooler full of piping hot tamales about once a week down the street. He puts up a little folding table, a crappy little chair and it's cash only. $1 for the best fucking tamale ever made by man. It's hard to make sure to get there before he sells out. It's usually within an hour.
Done right, it's an amazing, flavorful filling with a relatively thin shell of special ground and leavened corn flour around the outside. Most of the bad ones i've had were 90% rubbery unseasoned masa with a thin stripe of meat down the center (cheap). I've been practicing for ages and i'm only up to "not bad" on a scale of 1 to 10 :)
Mexican food at a lot of chain places is made as cheap as possible, and while cheap tacos are still fucking delicious, it doesn't translate well into every dish.
Mexican here, tamal (without e) is a class of foods, think of it like cake or pie, maybe not quite as varied, but definitely not a single thing, there are good tamales and bad tamales.
You have to get a good connect. You'll find them where you least expect. I used to buy tamales from the place that refilled my propane tanks.
Somewhere in your city there exists a retired Mexican man driving an SUV with an Igloo cooler in the back full of 300 tamales his wife made this morning. There's at least one in every big city. These are the tamales you want. You'll find them at some random street corner near the Home Depot or near a mechanic's shop and they are some of the best food you'll ever eat.
You literally just described my hookup. He goes to the bars here in Houston. He also has homemade sauces his wife made in small containers that go with each half dozen sold or to buy a jar by itself. He comes out less often in the last year (gee, I fucking wonder why) but I got in good with him and have his number so he'll meet me anytime between noon and midnight most days.
Anyone who wants a real tamale experience, listen to this person's advice. And if you still don't like them, well you gave them a fair shot. And that's ok too.
We must protect our trunk tamale men and women at all costs. Them, and the elote street corn sellers.
100% this. Store-bought or restaurant tamales almost never taste as good as home made.
The best tamales I've ever had are always from random people who approach me in a Home Depot parking lot.
this works for everything
depends on the tamale, what you describe sounds like canned or 'fast' food tamales.
But you need fiber!