Business & Tech
At the Farmers Market: The Gourmet Tamale Factory
Each week, we'll be spotlighting a different vendor at the Encino Farmers Market.
The Gourmet Tamale Factory stand, where handmade tamales are wrapped up and served fresh, has pitched a tent at the Encino Farmers Market for 10 years. Owners Magali and Roberto Ortega load their lard-free tamales with traditional fillings: beef, chicken, pork, chile cheese, vegetable, sweet corn and sweet pineapple.
"My husband's dad one day decided to bring a cook over who knew how to make great tamales down in Mexico, he was a friend of the family," Ortega said. "From there, he decided to teach us how to make them and we started out of our house."
Today, the Ortegas own their own restaurant and come out to the Encino Farmers Market on Sundays to sell their tamales.
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"The Tamale guy is my boy," Stan Lubitsch, the manager of the Encino Farmer's Market, said. "And when you eat his tamales, they melt right in your mouth."