Its easy to find tamales here in the Bay Area — they're in grocery stores, street carts, farmers' markets and restaurants. The real challenge is finding a GOOD tamale. Oftentimes, commercial tamales have lots of masa and very little filling. The masa is frequently bland which makes it necessary to add sauces or seasonings until the tamale becomes tastier.

Ricardo felt there had to be a way to create a consistently great tamale. He spent much time developing the perfect recipe with a generous filling-to-masa ratio. He used several chile pepper varieties so the tasty masa was perfectly paired with the delectable filling. He engineered the tamale as a pie so the filling and masa were evenly distributed, it could be easily stored and heated — making it ideal for serving and cleanup.

Ricardo took some tamale pies to work and served one to his fortunate co-workers. The remaining tamales were purchased on the spot and the word spread about Ricardo's tamales pies. The rest is tamale history!