Last year’s first try at a height-of-summer tamale festival in Washougal was a victim of its own success. Overwhelmed by lots of eager tamale fans, but undersupplied with actual tamales, long lines of hungry people took over the event. Organizers expected a turnout of about 400; the reality was well over 1,500.
Unsatisfied hunger won’t be a problem at this Saturday’s second Southwest Washington Tamale Festival, organizer Hector Hinojosa vowed. Given the surprise popularity of last year’s outing, he said, delighted organizers have prepared a bigger, busier and better-stocked celebration.
“This year, we will have many more food vendors, so lines will be shorter and there will be plenty of tamales for everyone,” Hinojosa said. Kids will enjoy activities; grown-ups will enjoy the beer garden.
What’s a tamale? It’s a delicious little bundle of corn or dough (plus whatever else you add), steamed inside a corn husk that you unwrap like a present to get at the good stuff inside. Tamales are as ancient as civilization itself in Mexico and Guatemala, where local “people of the corn” considered them both sacred and extremely practical — handily transportable, highly nutritious and adaptable with ingredients such as meat, fish, beans, eggs or fruit. Think of the tamale as the wrap that came before all other wraps.
