By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Mario Maya
Rey Avila
When determining who should judge an event such as the San Benito News “Best Tamales in Town” contest, it’s important to include people who have become synonymous with the community.
As the operations chief for the San Benito Fire Department, Raul Zuniga fits that bill. As the vice president of the San Benito CISD Board of Trustees, Anna Cruz fits that bill. As a state senator, Eddie Lucio, Jr. fits that bill. So it’s only fitting that, as the president of the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum and San Benito News Citizen of the Year, Reynaldo Avila be granted the same opportunity, not to mention a member of the business community, MJ Screen Printing and Embroidery owner Mario Maya. After all, they fit the bill, too.
Consider that, at the age of 70, Avila has had much experience in participating in what’s become a tradition in the Hispanic community and culture.
“You could say that, for the last 60 years, I have loved tamales,” Avila said with a laugh. “My mother used to make them, then my wife and daughters and daughters-in-law would all come together at her (mother’s) house.”
Avila said his mother Guadalupe Avila knew how to prepare a good batch of tamales, using basic ingredients sometimes missing today, such as chile ancho.
“They were just real, homemade tamales that used a whole bunch of ingredients,” Avila recalled. “What my wife does the day before, is for all night she puts all that chile ancho to soak, and the meat also cooks all night. By morning, all the help (family) arrives and the house is full until 1 p.m. (with people making tamales).”
“Like everywhere here, making tamales is a tradition,” Avila continued. “In our house, we make them two weeks before and all the rest are frozen and brought out on December 24th.”
Maya shares a similar story. At age 61, Maya still has a wealth of knowledge at his disposal in the tamale-making tradition. “I can eat them every day,” Maya exclaimed. “Breakfast, lunch, dinner…I love them.”
“My fondest memory, of course, like everybody else, is of my mom’s tamales,” Maya continued. “There was also a place right along the resaca where an elderly couple sold tamales year ‘round. I can’t remember their names, but I remember as a child going there and buying tamales. They were delicious. I always remembered them and have wanted to know what happened to that family.”
It is said that Maya’s mother, Ventura Maya, had a recipe for tamales that none could imitate. “We tried to make them like hers, but we couldn’t. She had special ingredients that only she knew,” Maya said.
The “Best Tamales in Town” contest will be held at the News office, located at 356 N. Sam Houston Blvd. (across the street from San Benito Medical Associates), at 12 noon Friday, December 21. No fee is required to enter tamales into the contest. All one must do is bring a dozen of their best tamales to the aforementioned location by said time; judging will begin immediately thereafter. Judging will be based on taste, texture, originality and presentation.
Helping to host the event will be Miss San Benito Bianca Valdez.
The public is invited to attend as music and refreshments will be available during the contest.
For more information, call (956) 399-2436.
Read this story in the Dec. 19 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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