Deanne on 
Paul Dicken on 
Madeleine Boivin on 
Brian on 
Naomi Wilton on 
Michael on 
Ameena Sethi on 
Sh Saqi on 
UPDATE May 18, 2009: In the fastest update in the history of this blog, Santaneca just posted this Tweet tonight: “To ensure only the best, uncompromised service to our customers, we won’t be accepting new orders until further notice.”
Not sure what’s behind the break, but I hope it’s just temporary!
I first noticed Santaneca on Twitter. Curious, I clicked on its website and learned it offered homemade tamales right here in Calgary.
But even more intriguing is the ordering process:
- Place your order over the phone with at least 24 hours notice.
- They call you back near the time of requested pickup (Friday evenings and Saturdays only), and that’s when they reveal where you should go.
- Arrive at a tidy house in Sunnyside.
- Exchange cash for tamales with a really nice lady.
Unsure about how filling they would be, we ordered six ($2.50 each). Each one — about the size of a brick — came wrapped in foil and were all equally portioned.
These tamales, based on an “authentic recipe from Santa Ana, El Salvador, are made with corn dough and filled with chicken, potato slices, and exactly one red pepper strip and one manzanilla olive. Then they’re wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.
The tamales are tasty (alliteration!). They remind me of Chinese dumplings (糭) that are made with glutinous rice and steamed in bamboo leaves, but with a much smoother, almost creamy texture.
Most of the flavour I think comes from the “specially seasoned tomato sauce” mixed into everything. It’s savoury, but definitely not spicy.
Two for each of us was more than enough for dinner (with a side salad). And as the lady promised, the leftover tamales were even better the next day.
Santaneca makes the tamales fresh, hence the need for at least 24-hours notice, especially if you’re ordering in large quantities.
I’ve never had tamales before so I can’t compare them to any previous experience. I quite enjoyed these, but I’ll admit my excitement was heightened by the espionage.
I’d be interested in your reviews, especially if you’ve had tamales elsewhere before.
Santaneca, to order phone (403) 764-3206. More info on website.
Love the title. Having read about this place on Chwohound, I was wondering about it. The images look good.
Interesting- growing up in very Hispanic NW Indiana (Chicago area), we used to order tamales from a Mexican lady by the dozen. They were stuffed with ground pork and were SMALL, about the size of a half of a cigar. What you’re describing sounds more like a Trinidadian “pastelle,” http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/2008/01/just-love-those-cornmeal-dishes.html, which makes sense since El Salvador is more caribbean-influenced than is Mexico. I look forward to trying these!
Tamales… Hmmmmm…. Darn, I just came back from Panama where I had some and I already want more!!!
John, actually, in other parts of Latin America we have these as well; however, we also have a version called tamal de olla, i.e., rather than wrap it in banana leaves, it is left in the pot and served “as is”.
Hi Andree:
Thanks for ordering from us, and thanks for the post on your blog about it!
The reason for the “espionage” ordering process is actually due to our past experience. We used to sell Tamales out of our home in Albert Park, (close to the Franklin LRT station) and got to the point that we were selling about 1000 tamales a week. Unfortunately, however, after a while most customers would assume the tamales were available all the time, any time, and would just show up at our door at random/odd times every day of the week, and without placing an order in advance. Being a home based side-business, and since the tamales really are made FRESH to order, this wasn’t an ideal scenario… In short, we have found the only way around this is to not “publish” our address but only provide it when confirming orders. We never realized that this might come across as being shady or espionage-like though.
John Manzo – we also do offer pork tamales, (not ground pork though, we use tender pork chunks), but these require at least 48 hours notice.
Again, we’re glad you enjoyed the tamales – thanks for the review!
Santaneca Tamales
hola@santaneca.com
A note to your blog readers: To ensure only the best, uncompromised service to our customers, we won’t be accepting new orders until further notice. We’ll be sure to keep you posted (via twitter as well as a comment on this post) when we’re ready to resume taking your orders. Thanks for your understanding!
Santaneca: Thanks for the explanation… I didn’t think it was shady; I thought it was fun! Hope you’re back up and running soon.
Intriguing! Just the name of these tamales makes me want to try them! I’ll be pre-ordering next time I come down to Calgary!
Now the twitter account is down!!!