Photo: Araceli Martinez / Impremedia
For three years now, the Martínez Huacujas have made the sale of Michoacan tamales a small family business that gives them enough to support their little daughters.
“It is very gratifying for me when people who try our tamales tell me that they remind them of the flavors of their mothers and grandmothers,” says Rocío Martínez Huacuja, who together with her husband Miguel Ángel Martínez Espinoza works shoulder to shoulder in the preparation and sale of tamales
“We are 100% dedicated to our Michoacan tamales.”
They are the parents of 8-year-old Nicole and 3-year-old Erica Isabela, who usually accompany them during the sale of their tamales at the events where they are hired.
Rocío and Miguel are from Purépero, a town in the northwest of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The couple immigrated 10 years ago, and live in Covina, a city in the San Gabriel Valley within Los Angeles County.
“The need to support the family led us to make and sell Michoacán-style tamales, and thanks to the program woman undertakes offered by the Consulate General of Mexico, we have been able to train ourselves and shape our business,” says Rocío.
“We don’t have a fixed place to sell them. We work by orders and make catering wherever they call us and request our tamales”.
Rocío believes that what makes her tamales different is mainly the flavor of the Purépecha indigenous area of Michoacán, and because she prepares them with nixtamalized corn.
“They have a flavor that comes from our roots. We have pork in red sauce, chicken in green sauce, corn, pineapple with raisins and slices with cheese. The ones that are most requested are the pork in red sauce and the corn ones, ”she says.
It also makes the best-known tamales such as corundasand the flour tamales that she has baptized as Juanitos.
“The corundas They are triangle-shaped tamales, they are wrapped in milpa leaves, not corn. They are salty and are accompanied with cheese, cream and sauce. I put my corundas Karlitas in honor of my aunt because she gave me the recipe, and they are very tasty”.
He baptized the flour tamales as “The Juanitos” in memory of his brother Juanito who passed away last year.
“He insisted that I make wheat flour tamales. They are not sweet or salty. They are accompanied with sweet atoles such as tamarind, coconut or pineapple; They are filled with Nutella and jam, and they are very tasty”.
As part of her tamales, Rocío serves champurrado, a kind of atole that she makes with milk, cinnamon, chocolate, brown sugar, and dough to give it consistency.
Rocío and her husband named their business nictamal in honor of his eldest daughter Nicole; and they bet on the nostalgia of migrants with their slogan is “The Taste of a Good Memory”.
And he shares that they have been living from the sale of Michoacan tamales for three years.
“We are going to continue growing with our tamales. MY dream is one day to earn enough to allow me to donate to people who suffer from cancer, diabetes, anxiety and depression, which are the diseases that led to the death of my parents and brother.
Rocío and her husband make tamales to order and for parties.
You can find them on Facebook and Instagram under nictamal. You can also visit their page: http://www.nictamal.com or call them for orders at 310-984-9301.
He sells them for $3 each tamale; already $30 a dozen.
nictamal was among the first three places in the third edition of the Mexicana Emprende contest promoted by the Institute of Mexicans Abroad.
Rocío says that they highly value the hygiene of their tamales, equality and good treatment of all people, punctuality, care for the environment, cooperation and of course hard and continuous work to succeed with their tamales. nictamal.