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Tamaly Shop

Where: 2525 Main St., Vancouver

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When: Lunch and dinner daily

Info: 604-369-3446. tamaly-shop.com

Maizal

Where: 2815 Main St., Vancouver

When: Lunch and dinner daily

Info: 604-709-0813. maizalmsf.ca

Liz Gamez’s journey to the Tamaly Shop was not a straight line — it was a circle. She grew up cooking with her abuela (grandmother) Maria in a restaurant that she ran in her home. Grandmom wanted her to keep cooking but instead, Gamez went to university, worked in human resources, then came to Canada, got a Master’s in administration and worked as a property manager.

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But a longing for home disguised itself as a craving for her abuela’s made-from-scratch tamales. She couldn’t find it in Vancouver and that sent her into another life direction. She started making them herself. “It’s a hard, long process,” says. “That’s why no one was making them.”

Neighbours, then friends, discovered her tamales, and put in orders. Soon, she rented a ghost kitchen and a stall at the UBC Farmers’ Market. Then — blessing in disguise — her ghost kitchen owner doubled her rent. Her grandmother told her it was time to open a restaurant.

“Here I am, back in the kitchen,” Gamez says. “Welcome to my grandma’s house. I designed everything based on her kitchen and living room.” Note the eye-popping colours, the flowers, and humble appearance. “I feel like I’m home. I want to share that feeling,” she says.

And of course, you go for tamales but her menu grew with customer requests for tacos and tortas. Prompted by one of her Asian customers, she put birria noodle soup on the brunch menu — noodles with marinated lamb in a spicy broth with five or six different chilies. “There are some haters because it’s not Mexican,” Gamez says. “I’m open to try and adapt.” I didn’t try it but, great idea.”

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That longing for home has grown into sales of 4,000 to 5,000 tamales a month, including frozen ones she sells online and in her shop. She soaks and boils big batches of dried local corn with an alkaline mix to make nixtamal, or softened corn, to grind into masa harina. Unlike her grandmother, who ground the corn with a molcajetes or stone mortar and pestle, Gamez uses a commercial grinder imported from Mexico.

“Since ancient times, all our food was based on corn. Tamales were a sacred food because Aztec warriors ate it for energy and nutrients. They were ancient energy bars,” she says.

“Today, it’s fast food to buy or a special occasion dish to make at home. When I was in high school, I’d stop at a cart by the bus stop in the morning for one. It gives you a feeling of bringing you to life.” In Vancouver, we are still tamale virgins. She’s had to put up a sign informing guests not to eat the corn husks in which the tamales are wrapped.

Gamez offers eight tamales ($7.50 each) with fresh-tasting fillings — four non-vegan (chicken with mole; pork with salsa verde; cheese with jalapeno and salsa roja; mozzarella and cheddar cheese) and four vegan (tofu with mole; mushroom with salsa verde; mashed potato with jalapeno; and black bean). There’s always a couple of dessert tamales as well and a tamale specials board, on which I spied and desired the birria lamb but it had sold out. I was just as keen on the huitlacoche — corn smut to some and Mexican ‘truffle’ to those who appreciate its funky umami flavour. The huitlacoche, a delicacy in Mexico, was embedded in the masa while the tamale was drizzled with sour cream and sprinkles of queso. Not everything’s from scratch — the mole is imported from Mexico and she outsources the tortillas for tacos to a local company.

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Interesting dishes populate the brunch menu — like huevos divorciados (fried eggs over chilaquiles with salsa); birria classica (soup with marinated lamb); and enmoladas (corn tortillas sauteed with mole and topped with chicken, feta cheese and sour cream.

The Tamaly Shop isn’t licensed but there’s a good selection of Mexican beverages like Jarritas fruit sodas, spicy hot chocolate, horchata and aguas frescas. You’ll also find grapefruit flavoured Squirt, the secret ingredient, when mixed with tequila, to make an authentic Paloma.

If tacos are your thing, Maizal restaurant is but three blocks away up Main Street and offers robust tacos made with fresh house-made corn tortillas. They’re $5.50 each with a choice of 19 toppings.  “We get corn from Mexico, make it into nixtamal corn, grind it and press it just before we cook it on the griddle,” says owner Rodrigo Vela.

Toppings include beef and lamb birria, braised in chili peppers and spices. One of Vela’s favourite ingredients is avocado leaves. “It’s sort of minty and I infuse my rubs and soups with it, like with a tea bag.”  Al pastor pork can’t be spit-grilled the traditional way because it’s against health regulations but his brainy Rational combi oven gets him close to the real thing. “After six years of trying and experimenting, it’s pretty good,” he says. “People like it.”

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His chicken mole tacos have house-made sauce, a blend of three chilies, seeds, raisins, plantains and other ingredients. He promises to introduce his moles as sauces for other dishes but has hesitated as “they’re so complex, the flavours keep changing and it can turn bitter.” As well, people have their own preferences, even in Mexico. “Some like it sweet, others bitter or savoury, or chocolatey.

“My wife, who’s Japanese, has learned to eat black mole over the years,” he says. In turn, she’s influenced some of his dishes. The tres leche cake, for example, uses a Japanese sponge cake recipe, making it even lighter. Vela also created a hibiscus tortilla taco with tempura fried shrimp and umeboshi salsa for a taco contest. “I bring it back sometimes for events or for catering,” he says.

Vela’s a partner in another Mexican restaurant, downtown, called Toloache, with more of a fusion bent. And he’s looking to open another restaurant. “There’s a lot of room in Vancouver for more Mexican places. North Vancouver or Kitsilano would be great,” he says.

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