Adding Some Spice to National Tamale Day

While tamales — the traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa and filled with meat, vegetables, cheese, and seasonings, then wrapped typically in a corn husk and steamed to delicious perfection — have been around since they were eaten by the Aztec and Mayan people thousands of years ago, National Tamale Day was actually created less than a decade ago by one of Santa Barbara’s own tamale experts.  

It was back in 2014 that Richard Lambert, a fifth generation Santa Barbaran who initially learned to make tamales as a hobby, trained with Mexico’s “Tamale Queen” Beatriz Ramirez in Coyoacán, and later opened the Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go business, found out that there was no National Tamale Day and set out to change things. He soon found himself gathering hundreds of signatures from tamale fans in order to submit an application to Chase’s Calendar of Events, the global decision-making authority on such things. 

That application was accepted, and National Tamale Day was celebrated for the first time in Santa Barbara and across the country on March 23, 2015 — and remains an annual celebration to this day. 

After making thousands of tamales over the years, Chef Lambert says his favorite tamale is chicken made with salsa verde. And if there is a secret to making a great tamale, he says it begins with the salsa. “That’s where the flavor is. The right salsa can transform an okay tamale into one that’s memorable, and now we have a day for that every March.”

Lambert says that the history of salsa can be traced back to the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca cultures of Mexico and Central America. “Surprisingly, the salsas we enjoy today are very similar to the ancient versions. They still feature fresh ingredients with bold flavors that include tomatoes, jalapenos, corn, tomatillos, mangoes, pineapples, and squash.”

Though we’ll have to wait for an in-person experience during Fiesta season in August, when Lambert gives a tamale-making class that begins with a lesson on how to prepare salsas that are both red (which he uses to make pork as well as chile and cheese tamales) and green (which is a key ingredient in chicken and vegetable tamales), in honor of National Tamale Day, he has generously provided his salsa recipes to us here (tinyurl.com/redandgreensalsa). According to Lambert, in addition to celebrating March 23 as National Tamale Day, the whole month of May is designated National Salsa Month.