Hot Tamales in Time for the Holidays

A hot tamale from Señor Chile.

There's nothing like the spicy-sweet flavor of a good tamale, especially on a cold Phoenix night (perhaps paired with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate?). Anyone who's made tamales from scratch knows they can be time consuming. Luckily, we sourced a few local places that'll have you knee-deep in homemade tamales before you can say "hatch chile."

Señor Chile (www.senorchileaz.com): These guys offer fresh tamales with red or green chile sauce, as well as a sweet green chile jam that pairs well with goat cheese. They don't have a brick and mortar store, so you'll have to contact them via their website or at 623-204-6867. There's still plenty of time to book Señor Chile's catering for your holiday party.

Food City Tamale Festival: Food City's annual tamale shindig returns to Cesar Chavez Plaza this weekend (December 12-13). If you're looking for one-stop tamale shopping, this is the place to go. Admission is free, and you can shop rows and rows of tamales all all shapes, sizes and colors. There's also a tamale tasting contest so you can see whose tamales fare best.  

Sylvia's La Canasta: Sylvia's offers cocktail tamales, regular size tamales and Christmas tamales with red chili beef and black olives delivered to your doorstep. Cost is $15.99 for a dozen tamales, or $29 for 48 minis. If you're in the mood to play chef, Sylvia's has a Tamale Party Kit with plastic gloves, an instruction booklet and ingredients to make three dozen tamales, available for purchase online.