Tamale Time! Thousands of tamales are being rolled out for Christmas

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Looking to spice up your holiday meal? Tamales are a traditional Latin American food, made of masa (corn meal mixed with fat) and sealed in a natural wrapper such as a corn husk or banana leaf. They can be eaten year-round, but they are often enjoyed around the holidays, particularly on Christmas and New Year's Day.

Alamo Tamale Company has been serving Houston handmade tamales since 1960. It's a family-run business that prides itself on making absolutely everything (really, everything!) from scratch. Alamo processes and braises their own meat, makes their own masa mixture, and even grinds their own spices, before the tamale-making process even begins.

Cynthia and Elizabeth, two of Alamo Tamales hardest workers say tamale-assembly is a labor and time-intensive process, which is why families and friends traditionally gather to make larges batches at once. Pork tamales are traditional, but over the years, Alamo Tamales have developed a variety of creative flavors. Today, they serve pork, chicken, brisket, jalapeno & cheese, and even tamales dulces (dessert tamales). The location on Berry Road in North Houston produces all tamales by hand - more than 13,000 dozen per day. Buen provecho!