tamalero

English

Etymology

From Spanish tamalero.

Noun

tamalero (plural tamaleros)

1. One who makes or sells tamales.
   • 1894 September 23, “Tamales Calientes: Push-cart Purveyors Who Flourish at Night. […]”, in The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif., page 19, column 7:

     The tamalero followed in hot pursuit and when he came back found his tamales in the gutter and his pushcart burned up by the benzoline of his open air lamp.

   • 1896, Sigmund Krausz, “Fresh, Hot Chicken-Tamales!!”, in Street Types of Great American Cities, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: The Werner Company, page 90:

     The tamale-man or, more correct, the tamalero, is a new and interesting type on our thoroughfares; let us welcome his advent. / Long live the tamalero!

   • 2006 December 20, Luz Peña, “Family that makes tamales, also making memories”, in Vida en el Valle, Fresno, Calif., page C-7, column 1:

     Along with the tasks of soaking the corn husks, cooking the perfect meat fillings, and the time-consuming process of spreading just the right amount of masa on the corn husks and folding them according to a family tradition that dates back more than 60 years, the tamaleros are also making memories.

   • 2012, Gustavo Arellano, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 56:

     […] in 1897, the City Council proposed to not allow tamale wagons to open until nine at night, at the behest of restaurant owners who didn’t like the crowds the tamaleros attracted.

   • 2016 October 9, Michael Donahue, “Vin-A-Que, Gonerfest …”, in The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., page 4M, columns 2–3:

     About 2,000 attended Centro Cultural’s second annual Tamale Fest, held Sept. 24 on the grounds and near Caritas Village in Binghampton, said co-chairperson Margarita Sandino. / Twenty vendors, including local tamaleros, food trucks and artists, participated.

   • 2017 July 29, Jacqueline Serrato, “Chicago Eloteros and Tamaleros now ‘as legal as possible’”, in Hoy (Chicago Tribune), Chicago, Ill., page 13, columns 2–3:

     That’s why the Street Vendors Association of Chicago (SVAC), which has a membership of 60 vendors, was organized: to help eloteros, tamaleros and others operate “as legally as possible”, said SVAC director Vicky Lugo.

   • 2018 December 21, Bud Kennedy, “‘Tamale Throwdown’: Search for the best tamales leads to Tarrant County”, in Star-Telegram, volume 113, number 240, Fort Worth, Tex., page 1C, column 2:

     All the tamaleros made pork tamales to detailed specifications — 75 percent pork, 25 percent masa — for the contest at the Lee Harvey’s bar near downtown Dallas.

   • 2020 March 18, James Papp, “Adapt, be mindful of others, and we’ll get through this”, in The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif., page 3B, column 3:

     If I remembered the contact information of the tamalero who delivers to my office every fortnight, I’d print that, too.

   • 2020 August 30, Louisa Chu, “Tamale Guy, Claudio Velez, hospitalized with COVID-19”, in Chicago Tribune, 173rd year, number 243, Chicago, Ill., section 1, page 4, columns 1 and 6:

     Claudio Velez, known widely as the beloved Tamale Guy in Chicago, has been hospitalized and tested positive for the coronavirus, according to social media posts and confirmed by his partners at their newly opened restaurant, Tamale Guy Chicago, on Saturday. […] “Claudio was admitted into the ICU Thursday evening and was having trouble breathing,” wrote Vega by text message. “[…] We are praying for him and making sure we can do everything possible to take care of our tamalero.”

   • 2021 June 27, Laura Rodríguez Presa, “They rented space, then they bought the building”, in Chicago Tribune, 174th year, number 178, Chicago, Ill., section 1, pages 1 and 11:

     The collective of street vendors — many of whom have advocated for decades for Chicago to establish a license to protect their fellow eloteros and tamaleros — say the purchase of the kitchen can help pave the way for other street vendors to get a license by allowing them to rent it at affordable prices.

   • 2021 December 20, Natalia E. Contreras, “A tour of the top tamales in Texas”, in El Paso Times, volume 141, number 353, El Paso, Tex., page 9A, column 1:

     Some longtime Texas tamaleros told the American-Statesman that good tamales easily slide right off the husk.

Spanish

Etymology

From tamal +‎ -ero.

Noun

tamalero m (plural tamaleros, feminine tamalera, feminine plural tamaleras)

1. one who makes or sells tamales

References

• "tamalero", Collins Dictionary

Further reading

• “tamalero”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014