First Tamale Festival draws cooks and attendees
Maciel and Leon win cash prizes
The consensus of the first Tamale Festival was that it was “delicioso” and cooks are gearing up for next time.
The festival from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the CHMA Community Center on Putnam Avenue was organized by Roberto De La Rosa Jr. and sponsored by OLA Raza.
Cash prizes were given to the contestants who made the best tamales in the categories of meat, vegetarian, and sweet. Adriana Maciel won $100 for sweet tamales contest. Maria Leon won $300 for her meat tamales and $200 for her vegetarian tamales.
Five judges tasted at least 17 different types of tamales and decided the winners.
Organizer Gabriela Santos said De La Rosa thought of having a Tamale Festival, because so many people would come to him and say, “Oh, Those tamales are so good!,” or, “My tamales are the best,” or, “Those tamales are the best.” So De La Rosa Jr. said lets have a competition.
In addition to the tamale contest, there was cultural dancing and information provided to attendees.
Deepa Srivastava, from the University of California Extension Program in Tulare, who is a nutrition expert said she had never seen the Aztec dancing performed before and really enjoyed the culture, and all the color and festivities at the tamale festival. “I haven’t tasted the tamales, but I’m sure they will be “delicioso.”
De La Rosa Jr. son spoke about pesticide awareness and how his group is trying to campaign farmers not to spray pesticides within quarter of a mile of schools and how they were trying to work with the local ag commissioner.
Porterville City Councilmember Martha Flores was one of the tamale judges and she said there were so many different flavors at was difficult to choose.
“I think this is a wonderful event. We had so many contestants and such a great turnout. There were eight meat tamales, five vegetarian, and three sweet tamales. I tasted all of them and judged them,” she said. Flores says the sweet pineapple tamale reminded her of the ones her mother used to make using pineapple and raisins.
Art Rodriguez had never been a judge before but, “I love tamales,” he says. “That’s one food I can judge!” The sauces were exceptional, and the textures of the tamales. The sauces that the meat was marinated with were wonderful.”
There are many people at the event supporting the contestants, and the tamales — “It’s a serious business.”
“I savored every single bite of at least 17 different tamales,” said Diego Monterrubio. “I was excited to be a judge. The tamales are truly regional. They are made in styles from the Gulf of Mexico region down to Belize and Guatemala where they are wrapped in banana leaf.”
One of the contestants who made the tamales, Maricela Maciel Suarez, who teaches English as a Second Langue in Porterville, said she has been making tamales her whole life for her family. Her recipe uses vegetables and black olives, potatoes, carrots and peas wrapped in corn husks. She steams them and then wraps them in tin foil to keep them moist.