Southwest
Tamales are hot today, yet savory wraps are as old as civilization
Tamales are one of the hottest topics in the American food scene — proving that food-on-the-run paired with great flavor never goes out of style.
Social conversations about tamales exploded 47% over the past year, according to Tastewise, a new platform that uses artificial intelligence to find food trends by tracking social media, restaurant menus and digital content.
The platform found that about 34,000 eateries in the United States serve tamales: a corn dough wrap called masa, filled with any of an array of meats, vegetables and spices, then steamed inside corn husks or banana leaves.
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“We love tamales for a very simple reason,” Texas tamale legend Lucy Rascon told Fox News Digital. “Because they’re delicious.”
Tamales enjoy remarkable cultural currency today for any food, let alone a culinary tradition that’s among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere.
Lucy Rascon, center, the owner of Lucy’s Kitchen in Vega, Texas, learned to make tamales from her grandmother as a girl in Mexico. She passed on the family tradition to her daughters, Sandy Rascon-Godoy, left, and Liz Rascon-Alaniz, right. (Shannon Richardson/Brick and Elm)
Rascon, the owner of Lucy’s Kitchen in Vega, Texas, learned to make tamales from her grandmother in Mexico, who likely learned from her grandmother — and from many grandmothers before then, since humans first arrived in the Americas.
“The Aztecs believed that Tzitzimitl, grandmother of the god Chicomexóchitl, created the first tamales,” food culture website TastingTable reported last month.
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“While archaeologists have yet to discover evidence that the first tamales were created by a god, records do suggest they may date back 10,000 years — making them one of the oldest dishes still eaten today.”
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan missionary from Spain, recorded his first encounters with tamales after arriving in the New World in 1529.
A man cooks tamales during the traditional new year’s pot trip (paseo de olla) at the Pance river in Cali, Colombia, on Jan. 1, 2023. Researchers believe tamales were first made by indigenous people in Central America as much as 10,000 years ago, one of the world’s oldest prepared foods. (JOAQUIN SARMIENTO/AFP via Getty Images)
“Tasty, tasty, very tasty, very well made … savory, of pleasing odor,” he wrote.
Ingredients included “chili, salt, tomatoes, gourd seeds” paired with an array of meats: turkey, fish, rabbit, frog and gopher, among others.
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Yelp.com lists the top-rated tamales across the United States right now.
Among those topping the tamale ticker in several large cities: Yolanda’s Tamales in New York City; Senorita’s Tamales in Los Angeles, California; Latin American Market in Miami, Florida; and Tamale Boy in San Antonio, Texas.
Many Texans, however, swear by the age-old family-tradition tamales served at Lucy’s Kitchen in Vega, a whistlestop town of fewer than 1,000 people on the Panhandle west of Amarillo.
Chicken Tamale wrapped in a banana leaf featured at Pupuseria Y Panaderia Emanuel on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in Houston. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Lucy Rascon let slip one secret to the popularity of her tamales: “More meat, less masa,” she said.
Rascon prepares her tamales by sight, feel and instinct instead of a recipe.
She has since passed on the family gift to her daughters, Liz Rascon-Alaniz and Sandy Rascon-Godoy.
“They’re both very successful business girls, but they still like to come together to cook tamales,” said Rascon.
Tamales from Lucy’s Kitchen in Vega, Texas. Owner Lucy Rascon learned to make tamales from her grandmother as a girl in Mexico. Tamales were first made 10,000 years ago in Central America. (Shannon Richardson/Brick & Elm)
“Tamales are a tradition that will never die.”
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Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
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