Tamales Tradicionales
At La Sandia in Tyson’s Corner, the Tamal Festival has begun. Through the month of February, savvy diners can enjoy authentic tamales (with a reservation) in the modern Mexican style of Chef Richard Sandoval. I visited the mall on Saturday, the 4th, and I was not disappointed with the food. There was a bit of a mix-up with my reservation, but the manager handled the situation with grace and professionalism. The service was excellent, and the food arrived quickly – no small feat, since the restaurant was already busy when I arrived at 5 pm.
The server offered a selection of drinks including flavored lemonades, and I decided to try their Mango variety. Pieces of actual mango and a quarter of a lemon swam around in the huge glass, and I could taste both the mango and lemonade. It was a delicious combination, not too sweet and not too sour. The complimentary house-made tortilla chips and fire-roasted salsa tasted fresh. The salsa’s consistency was more liquid than I usually prefer, but the flavor was very good. The chips came to the table warm and perfectly salted. Many restaurants seem to go overboard when salting their tortilla chips, but La Sandia gets it right. Now for the main attraction: the tamales!
Tamal Frito Toluca
I ordered the Tamales Tradicionales, a sampler platter with four different tamales. The contrast of colors between the different sauces and tamales looked beautiful on the plate. In the center, a scoop of fresh guacamole was flanked by two silver cups. One contained classic mole sauce, and the other held tomatillo sauce. For those who don’t know, tamales typically consist of sticky corn dough (masa), with some kind of filling (generally meat) and wrapped in a corn husk. The wrapped tamales are stacked in a pot and steamed. It was particularly nice of La Sandia to unwrap the corn husk tamales prior to plating the food. Those of us who have unwrapped a few tamales can appreciate the courtesy extended here.
I began with the Tamal Frito Toluca (fried chicken tamal), which was covered in a slightly spicy tomatillo sauce and drizzled with crema fresca. The masa for the tamal was orange rather than the traditional light tan, and tasted a bit spicy. I assume that the masa incorporated some chili powder or hot paprika, judging from the flavor. I really enjoyed the new spin on a traditional food. It was tasty, and I would order more of these tamales in the future. This tamal was my favorite and fans of tamales will enjoy this variety.
Tamal de Dulce and Cafe de Hoya
I moved on to the Tamal de Frijol con Queso (bean and cheese tamal), which was a classic done right. The tamal was covered in entomatada sauce and drizzled with poblano crema. The masa was the traditional flavor and the bean filling was very good. I wish there had been a little more filling, however, the mole sauce was an excellent match with the tamal. I would recommend this tamal for anyone who has never had tasted a tamal before; it’ll provide a great example of the typical taste and texture for the dish. For instance, kids would probably like this tamal.
The next tamal was the Pork Tamal Estilo Oaxaca, which was different from any tamal I had ever encountered. It was wrapped in a banana leaf, and the masa was crumbly and toasted-looking on the outside (due to the mole sauce). The shredded pork filling tasted amazing, and the banana leaf imparted a delicate floral scent to the tamal. I would highly recommend this tamal to anyone looking for something different, but still very Mexican.
The last tamal in the sampler platter was the Sweet Corn Tamal with Queso Fresco. The tamal was served in a corn husk tied at the ends and open in the top center, resembling a baked potato. The filling was fluffed sweet corn masa with a few cubes of queso fresco and parsley sprinkled on top. The
Lemonades, Chips, Salsa
taste reminded me of creamed corn, and I mean that in a good way. This is a great tamal for kids, and an excellent way to finish off the platter.
While at La Sandia, I also tried the Tamales de Dulce, which is a dessert for two people. The dish comes with two sweet corn tamales (same type as the sampler platter) and two steaming glasses of café de hoya. The tamales were drizzled with a vanilla bean crema dulce and chopped raisins. The coffee tasted wonderful, sweetened and cinnamon-flavored. Personally, I would order the café de hoya on its own, but it tasted great with the tamales de dulce.
-TKW
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or events.
