HOUSTON — Christmas is around the corner and a staple food for many families around the Houston area is tamales.
Why tamales during this time? It was a tradition started by Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs. They were regarded as sacred food eaten on special occasions and often given in offerings to their Gods. Over the centuries, people continued to eat them on special occasions.
Where in Houston can you get the best tamales?
This year, KHOU 11 News reporter Anayeli Ruiz set out to find and try and some of the best. She took to social media and asked viewers for their favorite tamales in Houston. She purchased the top 5 choices viewers recommended on Facebook, X and Instagram and went to a traditional Posada for a blind test.
The judges
- Marco Torres a Mexican food columnist in Houston
- Eloisa Villarreal, a volunteer cook at St. Joseph catholic church
- Ruiz's mother, Gloria Ruiz
- Ruiz's tia, Elena Valencia
Their challenge is to try each tamale based on the flavor, portion size and meat-to-dough ratio.
"I like big chunks of meat. You can tell it's quality meat," Marco Torres said about one of the tamales he tried.
The contenders were all pork tamales, in no particular order, from:
- Alamo Tamales
- Cochinita Co.
- El Bolillo bakery
- Picos Restaurant
- H-E-B
The judges took the task seriously.
"Muy rico. El mejor para mi. Mejor de los que llevamos," Villarreal said in Spanish about one of the tamales he tried.
"Very delicious. For me, it's the best one we have had," is the English translation of his opinion.
"Este no es muy bueno no. Esta seco insípido y no tiene buen sabor," Valencia said about one of the tamales she tried.
She said the tamales weren't that good -- they were dry with no flavor.
The judges picked their favorite, and the winner was Cochinita Co. tamales.
"El numero dos tenia suficiente carne, tiene un sabor muy bueno y me gustan tamales esponjados," Gloria Ruiz said about one of the tamales she tasted.
She said it had enough meat, good flavor and she prefers her tamales to be fluffy.
El Bolillo's Bakery tamale came in a close second place.
Here is how our judges ranked the tamales based on the taste test from most to least favorite.
- Cochinita Co.
- El Bolillo Bakery
- Alamo Tamales
- H-E-B
- Picos Restaurant
Now, when it comes to price, here's a look at how much a dozen tamales cost with tax included.
- H-E-B $9.49
- El Bollilo Bakery $15.13
- Alamo Tamales (Homemade Pork) $18.39
- Picos Restaurant $25.98
- Cochinita Co. $29.30
When it comes to prices, our judges said they weren't willing to pay more than $30.
"Te digo la verdad te vieron la cara," Villareal said.
It -- basically -- translates to: "You were taken advantage of."
When they heard one local restaurant was selling tamales for $64 a dozen, they said there were better options than paying that much.
"Sesenta dólares la docena … nooo con esos los haces en tu casa," the group agreed.
They said, in the end, tamales are about spending time with family and not breaking the bank. With that price, they would just make them at home.
One thing they all agreed on was that every home would have their favorite.
To be transparent, the businesses didn't know we were doing a taste test. We paid for the tamales and compiled the list based on the testers' responses.