# Hormel tamales in a can **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074 "2017-08-08T09:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/41 "2017-08-13T06:31:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > This thread inspired me to look up a tamale recipe. Which reminded me that it’s been a while since I’ve made chili. So I went to the store to get chili makings… > > … and bought a can of Hormel tamales. OMG, Johnny that is too funny! True story, I was running errands with the SO and we swung by Walmart (classroom supplies). I was passing through the food section and asked the Hispanic stocker, “Do you carry tamales in a can”? He said in a very flat deadpan “They don’t make Tamales in a can”. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/42 "2017-08-13T06:46:39Z")
The only ones I can find are labeled “Beef in Chili Sauce” - are those the ones? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/43 "2017-08-13T07:19:32Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I don’t know why I phrased that as a question…I’ve had lots of Mexican food and I know they are almost always made with pork. If Hormel made pork tamales in a can I’d be all over it. I’ve had plenty with all sorts of fillings. Pork may be more traditional, but that’s true for all Mexican food. Yet, like the rest, we often see beef or chicken used, too. Beef tamales are the ones I see the most often at restaurants and in the frozen section. This is seasoned shredded beef, not hamburger meat. According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamale), they can be filled with meat, cheeses vegetables, fruits, chillies, or “any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned.” My sister had sweet tamales when she was in Mexico, which I assume are the fruit ones. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/44 "2017-08-13T07:20:37Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > The only ones I can find are labeled “Beef in Chili Sauce” - are those the ones? Sure. Though the ones with chicken taste exactly the same, in my experience. The sauce overwhelms any different flavor in the meat, and it’s all the same consistency. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/45 "2017-08-13T11:30:01Z")
I had tamales from a trendy restaurant a few nights ago. They were chicken, and while the tamale itself was good, they had no red chili sauce!!! To me that is no tamale at all. The sauce is what makes it. Maybe the canned meat section at Kroger has the answer in a can. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/46 "2017-08-13T12:22:31Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > I had tamales from a trendy restaurant a few nights ago. They were chicken, and while the tamale itself was good, they had no red chili sauce!!! To me that is no tamale at all. The sauce is what makes it. > > Maybe the canned meat section at Kroger has the answer in a can. 🆒 When it comes to real tamales, I prefer them without sauce. The masa-filling combo is the essence for me. As was mentioned, the filling can be anything. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/47 "2017-08-13T12:45:54Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > The only ones I can find are labeled “Beef in Chili Sauce” - are those the ones? These is the ones in question: [https://www.barcodable.com/upc/037600216296](https://www.barcodable.com/upc/037600216296) And has been pointed out the chichen taste the same due to the overwhelming sauce. However unlike mentioned above, I don’t find them hard on my digestion at all. They are not very spicy. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/48 "2017-08-13T13:59:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought the canned tamales were based more on the sort that are sold in the deep South than the ones from Mexico - in areas like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi there are tamales that date from the 1920s and 1930s, when local black and white farmers adapted the food of Mexican migrant workers to their tastes. > [@](#): > > So I googled tamales in Greenville, MS and boy howdy… I had no idea they were such a thing. Greenville seems to be the tamale center of _The Delta_. There’s even a Tamale Trail tourist destination. I’m going to try and mail-order some of these. Yeah, it’s a pretty interesting phenomenon from several points of view. I recall reading that they were popular street food in the early 20th century as far north as Chicago. (Okay, I’ve just noticed that the Wiki entry mentions this and says that Robert Johnson’s “They’re Red Hot” is supposed to be about tamales.) I recommend to anyone who’s interested that they try making them at home. It’s not actually as hard or time-consuming as people say, although I certainly don’t follow a traditional recipe. Over 30 years ago, a friend from Mexico invited me over to have some that his mother had made that evening, and it remains one of the great food experiences of my life. She baked them in corn husks (incredible aroma), but I just roll them in parchment paper (the stuff you put between baked goods and the oven tray) and steam them in a pressure cooker. > [@](#): > > One of Hormel’s competitors (Old El Paso, maybe?) used to sell a product that was nearly identical, except in a glass jar, but I haven’t seen those on any shelves in many years. It wasn’t Derby brand, was it? [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fb/3c/51/fb3c512890ead61e7b64ac555a34b3ca.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fb/3c/51/fb3c512890ead61e7b64ac555a34b3ca.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/49 "2017-08-13T14:49:38Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Hormel Beef Tamales in a can was the first Mexican food my mom had. My dad, from California, was used to good Mexican food, but they were in Ohio at the time. There was not, in mid-1960s Ohio, a preponderance of available Mexican food of any quality. Indeed, my mother had a frustrating time trying to explain what a tortilla even _was_ to a grocer in Ohio during the '60s. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I was going to say leave out the tamales, and you’d have pepper bellies. Cut open an individual bag of Fritos, put in a ladle of chili, add shredded cheese and chopped onions, and _that’s_ a pepper belly. No rice in them at QHHS! 😛 Umm, that’s called a Frito Pie around here. I have never heard of a pepper belly. Language is weird. Even here, where you could get fresh tamales pretty easily, the Gebhart and Hormel varieties got eaten. They’re edible in the way that canned chili can be, filling, meaty, and you can usually dress it up to be actually good. These days, I’d rather start that kind of meal with frozen ones since they’re now actually more common than the canned ones around here. Like **ThelmaLou** , if I’m having quality tamales, I want them straight. The straight corn taste of the masa blends perfectly with the spicy meat. The canned ones a require some sort of sauce, and the frozen ones can usually benefit from them. Almost any one of the options are good: queso, chili con carne, green chili sauce, ranchera sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/50 "2017-08-13T15:05:10Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Umm, that’s called a Frito Pie around here. I have never heard of a pepper belly. Language is weird. Oh, yeah? People think _you’re_ weird for calling it a ‘Frito pie’, when it’s _clearly_ a ‘walking taco’! 😛 ‘Pepper belly’ seems to be confined to the western part of the Mojave Desert known as the Antelope Valley. I’m not surprised few people outside of the area haven’t heard the term. (Kind of like people outside of Southern California don’t know what a [chili size](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=555566) is. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/51 "2017-08-13T15:25:08Z")
Around here, “pepper belly” is a somewhat antiquated racist slur usually applied to Hispanics. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/52 "2017-08-13T17:24:11Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Around here, “pepper belly” is a somewhat antiquated racist slur usually applied to Hispanics. :eek: Wow. I’ve never heard that term before. (South Texas here.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/53 "2017-08-13T17:26:31Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Around here, “pepper belly” is a somewhat antiquated racist slur usually applied to Hispanics. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > :eek: Wow. I’ve never heard that term before. (South Texas here.) I haven’t either! (Native Southern Californian, current Washingtonian.) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/54 "2017-08-13T18:14:34Z")
I am in PA. I remember hearing men of my grandfather’s generation use it to describe Hispanics and sometimes Italians. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/55 "2017-08-13T18:24:55Z")
Me, too. Mainly from my Texican relatives. Just got back from grocery shopping. The wife gave me "that look "when I snagged a can and tossed it into the cart. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/56 "2017-08-13T18:54:04Z")
This kind of tamale was a rare but well remembered treat from my childhood. I probably haven’t had them in 25 hears. I also remember them in glass jars but that memory isn’t quite so sharp. That crimson grease, though. Coincidentally, the bar I was at last night was visited by [The Tamale Guy](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thrillist.com/amphtml/eat/chicago/tamale-man-chicago-dive-bars-claudio-velez-interview?espv=1). Well, it was a guy selling Mexican-style tamales in corn husks out of a cooler, not the ‘famous’ guy in the article. Anyway, he had both pork and chicken versions available. > [@Scumpup](#): > > I like them in a hotdog bun with chopped onion and pickled jalapeno slices You’re well on your way to a proper [Mother in law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother-in-law_(sandwich)). ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/57 "2017-08-13T20:57:14Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > This kind of tamale was a rare but well remembered treat from my childhood. I probably haven’t had them in 25 hears. I also remember them in glass jars but that memory isn’t quite so sharp. Found them: [https://www.peapod.com/c/8X/8XGOS.jpg](https://www.peapod.com/c/8X/8XGOS.jpg) ConAgra stopped making Derby Tamales in 2009, as it turns out - they just weren’t selling enough. If the same fate were to befall our favorite beef tamales, well I shudder to think. BTW, a case of 12 cans is available on Amazon for only $18.72. That’s only $224.64 per gross, people! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/58 "2017-08-13T21:07:07Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I don’t know why I phrased that as a question…I’ve had lots of Mexican food and I know they are almost always made with pork. If Hormel made pork tamales in a can I’d be all over it. There are many different types of tamales. Different regions have different recipes. They may be savory or sweet. They may be small such as _tamales de bola_ found in Chiapas to the very large _zacahuil_ originally from the Huasteca area of San Luis Potosí. In Michoacán, they serve _corundas_ and _uchepos_. Oaxaca, of course, _tamales de mole_, the Yucatán has their unique offerings. In Guanajauto, _el tamal de muerto_. In Sinaloa, shrimp tamales. There are _tamales de ceniza, de boda, ayocote, picadillo_ and many more. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/59 "2017-08-14T13:32:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > And maybe dump a can of chili over them? And some crushed Fritos? And some grated cheese and chopped onions? That sounds pretty good. A dog turd with a can of chili, crushed Fritos, grated cheese, and chopped onions on top would taste at least acceptable. Anything edible underneath would be an improvement. Around here, tamales are generally available with pork (most common), beef, or chicken, plus one I’ve never seen outside Arizona, green corn. Usually the last has a few intact kernels to prove its origin, I suppose, a dab of a soft white cheese like queso fresca, and sometimes a few diced green chilis – not too many as the flavor is delicate. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074/60 "2017-08-14T14:33:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > A dog turd with a can of chili, crushed Fritos, grated cheese, and chopped onions on top would taste at least acceptable. You’re the gourmet around here, Eddie 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormel-tamales-in-a-can/793074.md?page=4)