Tamales at La Popular: Elliott Munoz
East Dallasites historically have gone to great lengths to secure this husked holiday treat
“Excuse me. Your car is being towed.”
“That’s OK,” you say, a blissful smile on your face. For you know, at the end of this four-hour-long line, what awaits you. An audience with the Pope? Front-row seats for the World Series?
Tamales.
Such is the madness that descends upon East Dallas every holiday season.
Jesse Moreno Sr., “Doctor of Tamalogy” at La Popular Tamale House, laughs and shakes his head as he recounts this decidedly non-serene Christmas Eve scene. He recalls that the line snaked out the door of his restaurant and around the corner. Folks were parking illegally, willing to risk an impounding fee rather than give up a precious spot in line.
In business since 1984, Moreno has seen it all and heard every excuse from desperate customers. Years ago, he began taking pre-orders — a tamale guarantee — but soon found it necessary to ask for photo ID at pickup. Some sneaky, determined folks would eyeball the pre-order list upside-down and point to a random name. “Oh, that’s me,” they would insist. Moreno and his clan — it’s a family business — quickly saw through it and reluctantly began to insist on identification.
The small parking lot at La Popular transforms into TamaleLand every holiday season, particularly Christmas Eve. Many families traditionally tailgate in the lot, enjoying their tamales moments after purchasing them. But the lot also becomes something of a battlefield. Opportunistic tamale peddlers, most of them home cooks, lurk in the shadows, offering a cheaper dozen to customers entering, and not-so-cheap bundles of tamales to dejected customers leaving empty-handed. Jesse Moreno Jr., now president of the company since his father handed over the reins a few years ago, just shrugs. He says they’re usually so busy inside, they don’t see the wheeling and dealing right outside their doors.
So what is it about tamales? Dating back to the Aztecs and Mayans, it’s a humble little package: seasoned meat, packed in cornmeal dough (masa), wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. But it’s so much more than a tasty little comfort food in the Latino culture. Honoring tradition, many families in East Dallas engage in the tamalada, a gathering of family to prepare and serve tamales. Virginia Ramirez, Parent Liaison at J.L. Long Middle School, gets together with her family every Christmas Eve to spread masa on corn husks, cover just so (“It’s not as easy as it looks”) with meat filling and fold. She admits she rarely, if ever, buys tamales: “I am very picky. Most people don’t want to take their time making them.” And she likens tamales to Thanksgiving turkey, explaining that many Latinos eat tamales only at Christmastime, savoring it as a holiday treat.
But for Ramirez and her family, it’s as much about the people as the food. “We have a good time hanging out and talking. We look forward to it every year.” She views the tamalada as a “dying art,” at least in the American culture, because of the faster pace and busier lives here, as well as less emphasis on family time.
Jesse Moreno Sr. describes the tamale-making process as “tedious but rewarding.” Few in East Dallas know the first thing about the process, so purchasing them is what “John,” a Lakewood-area resident, had in mind some years ago. He says he set off on Christmas Eve to buy a batch for his family’s meal that evening. The neighborhood tortilla and tamale house, now closed but a mainstay in its day, was bursting with despairing customers. Sorry, sold out, they were told — but try their other location in Pleasant Grove. A cross-town caravan ensued — a quest for tamale nirvana no matter the cost or trouble. They all pulled into the parking lot about the same time, looked at each other and laughed at their tamale-induced folly. Ah, tamales at last. And no fisticuffs, fortunately. Peace on earth, including the tamale house.
Reserve your tamales: La Popular Tamale House, 5004 Columbia Ave., 214.824.7617
