For Latinos in Phoenix, making tamales isn't a chore. It's a Christmas family ritual

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misidentified Pete Martínez's mother, Adelaide Martínez, and his sister, Virginia Martínez.

For some, preparing tamales in December simply implies cooking Christmas dinner.

For others, especially Latino immigrants in the United States, it is a nostalgic tradition that involves generational recipes and helps bring the entire family together.

Tamales, a name that comes from the Nahuatl word “tamalli,” are a Mexican dish with great cultural value due to their pre-Hispanic and Indigenous origin, according to the official website of the Government of Mexico. In recent years, they have gained popularity in the U.S. due to the variations in flavors and ingredients in tamales recipes. With about 2 million Latinos in Arizona of Mexican origin — about 85% of the 2.3 million Latinos in the state — Arizona and the Valley are no exception.

Tamales are widely consumed throughout the year, but cooking them during the holidays and into the beginning of the year is more common in Mexican households.

Preparing tamales is an inherited gift. Its main ingredient isn't the masa (dough), the spices from different countries or the specific seasoning used for the fillings, but the special bond that forms year after year as families keep their tamal-making traditions alive.

“It's a great feeling to see our grandchildren and great-grandchildren come together to make tamales,” said Linda Martinez, a Mesa resident who has been making tamales with generations of Martínez for years.

Three Valley families, the Muñoz, Martínez and Cervera, shared their most precious memories — as well as the origin of their recipes — when preparing tamales for the holidays.

A half-a-century-old recipe

Once a year, before Christmas comes around, the Martínezes meet at Pete and Linda Martínez's house in Mesa, and everyone — from grandchildren to spouses and grandparents — gets to work making 100 dozen tamales, which are distributed among family and friends.

It was the family's matriarch, Adelaide Martínez, who started this tradition decades ago in her hometown, and parents, children and grandchildren of the family have been in charge of continuing the legacy and passing it on to new generations.

Adelaide, Pete's mother, was born in 1908 in Agua Caliente, a town in Durango, Mexico. She made tamales until her health no longer allowed it. The tradition continued through her daughters and her son.

“It's always nice to bring up a lot of memories while making tamales and remember all the good times of getting together and being with family,” Pete Martínez said.

At one of these tamal-making meetups, Pete and his son invented a new recipe which they called a breakfast tamal. They added scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage as the filling. It was a success. “I took a few to my doctor and he said they were the best tamales he had ever had in his life,” Linda said with a laugh.

One of the most valuable memories that the family keeps is a black-and-white photograph that dates back more than 50 years. It shows Adelaide Martínez, the matriarch who started the tradition of making tamales, surrounded by her family.

For this year's reunion, the family blew up the photo and placed it right behind the table where they prepare tamales, a gesture that united the Martínezes even more, Linda said.

'The most beautiful memory from my country'

From a very young age, Felicidad Cervera Martínez and her siblings helped her mother make tamales to sell in the central state of Hidalgo, Mexico, not knowing that 19 years later that tradition would continue with her children in another country.

At the age of 23, she moved to the United States and after four years of residing in Phoenix, she decided to cook tamales at Christmas, once again using her mother's recipe.

“When I came here I remembered what my mother made ... but I didn't do anything like that until I got here (U.S.) and I remembered how she made them," she shared. "More than anything, it is the most beautiful memory from my country."

Cervera Martínez, who has lived with her husband in Phoenix for 19 years, cooks sweet and savory tamales, just like her mother did.

“I make pineapple, strawberry, chocolate and corn tamales," she said. Savory ones include pork, beef, cheese with rajas, and the traditional chicken in green sauce, which her children love. She's even started to make vegan tamales.

Her three sons, all over the age of 27, love eating tamales and are very involved in the process, involving their children and their spouses in the process.

“My children no longer live with me, only one who lives next door, but my daughters-in-law, my children, arrive and I tell them 'help me with this', 'bring me this', sometimes they help me beat the dough. My husband also helps with kneading, because here everyone has to work,” said Cervera Martínez said with a laugh.

Five generations of tamal makers

For the Muñoz family, tamales are part of a generations-old tradition, reminding them what family is all about.

Norma Muñoz, originally from the border city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, learned to make tamales at a young age. Her mother María Teresa passed down Ramona's recipe, Muñoz's grandmother.

“My mother told me that she learned from her mother. She was from Hermosillo (Sonora) and lived there with her parents and she always told me that my grandmother Ramona made the best tamales, that everyone in the neighborhood ordered from her," said Muñoz. "My mother learned from her mother and I learned from my mother."

Although Muñoz was born in Nogales, she's lived in the U.S. since she was 2. She considers herself Mexican-American because she has never lived in Mexico.

Still, the tradition of getting generations of Muñozes together to make tamales for the holidays didn't begin until she got married.

“When I got married I asked my mother to help me make (tamales). First of all, I love tamales ... so my mother and my mother-in-law came and we all got together to make tamales,” Muñoz recalled.

From that moment on, Muñoz makes it a yearly event, cooking Sonora-style tamales with red and green chili.

Every December her house is filled with her adult children and their families to help make tamales for the season.

“The whole bunch participates ... I tell them 'My little ones, we are going to make tamales on this day at this time, who wants to help me?'. I have a daughter who always tells me 'Mom, I'm going to be there' and I have five or six granddaughters who are grown up, married, and they tell me 'Yes Nana, I'm going.' Even my 83-year-old sister-in-law also comes and helps,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz has lived in south Phoenix for 40 years. Together with her husband, Jimmie Muñoz Sr., who died two years ago, they started a Christmas tree business that has been a staple in south Phoenix.

Reach La Voz reporters Javier Arce and Nadia Cantú at javier.arce@lavozarizona.com and nadia.cantu@lavozarizona.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why making Christmas tamales is a beloved family tradition for Latinos