Demand for the goods fluctuates greatly from an average of 15 dozen a week to as many as 60 dozen at the holidays or graduation time. Anyone looking at a tamale recipe knows that s a lot of cornhusk bundles to tie. Avela chuckles with pride. We re all from Mexico originally, she says. We have the recipe and the experience.
Tamales are a product of Mexico s mestizo cuisine and the women who created it.
Mujeres en Accion was founded in 1996 by three women whose friend had died in a domestic dispute involving a gun. They applied for a grant to get a kiln, Avela recounts. But there wasn t enough demand for ceramics. So the members turned to making tamales as a way of covering their costs to keep the South Broadway site. They did this for two years without real help with organization or promotion until Avela, a Vista volunteer, came in 1998.