Archaeological clues suggest that tamales have existed since 8,000 BCE, making them arguably the original comfort food.
So when you’re craving some classic comfort, where better to get your tamales than from the man who literally founded National Tamale Day: Santa Barbara’s own Richard Lambert Tamales.
Tamales are one of those things that seem simple in concept, but in practice are very difficult to execute well.
“I often get comments,” owner Richard Lambert said, “that go, ‘My husband doesn’t like tamales. Except yours.’”
Luckily for us, Team Let’s Go Eat member Jan Bannister convinced us to try Lambert’s tamales, and our fears of encountering dry, crumbly steamed balls of corn meal with mysterious bits of meat evaporated at once.
Instead, these tamales have just the right consistency, generous fillings of delicious meats and vegetables, easy to prepare at home, and equally good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Richard Lambert is redefining the ancient comfort food known as tamales. “I often get comments that go, ‘My husband doesn’t like tamales. Except yours,’” he says. Credit: Richard Lambert Tamales photo 
According to Richard Lambert, the key to tamale perfection is thin masa and thick filling. Credit: Richard Lambert Tamales photo 
Richard Lambert’s freezer is stocked and ready to fill tamale orders received through his Richard Lambert Tamales website. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
Color coding makes it easy to tell what you’re eating. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
Richard Lambert is on a roll during a tamale-making class. He estimates he’s rolled 80,000 tamales so far. Credit: Richard Lambert Tamales photo 
Tamales wrapped and ready to go. What’s your favorite? Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
Twice a year, during the holidays and during Fiesta, Richard Lambert teaches tamale-making classes for home chefs. Credit: Richard Lambert Tamales photo
In short, Lambert’s are perfect. How do you do it, we asked?
“I make my tamales the way I would want to eat them,” he shared. “Which is why I keep the filling-to-masa ratio high, and try to make them fun, with colorful ribbons, easy to share, ideal for parties.”
Plus he estimates he’s made more than 80,000 of them by hand, so he’s had some practice.
He has no employees, and makes them all himself.
“I don’t have to worry about consistency,” he explained. “I know what works and what doesn’t.”
His tamales are consistently 70% filling to 30% masa ratio.
“That’s one of the things that brings people back to reorder,” he told us. “Keeping the masa thin (a uniform quarter-inch thick) plus more filling helps keep the tamales from drying out.”
Lambert’s family has been in the Santa Barbara area since 1869 when his great-great-grandfather jumped ship rather than head back to New York on his whaling vessel.
“A lot of foods don’t freeze well, but tamales do. Something about the masa keeps the vegetables crisp, the meat still fresh, nothing dried out.”
RICHARD LAMBERT
Lambert himself grew up working at his dad’s olive farm near Visalia.
“I remember,” he said, “picking olives alongside the farm workers during the fall, and swapping my tuna sandwich at lunchtime for some of their tamales.
“That’s where my love of tamales began.”
After a successful career in film-making, Lambert was looking for a new challenge just at the time when his favorite tamale supplier here in Santa Barbara was closing up.
Sensing an opportunity, he jumped right in.
“I went to Mexico and hired the Tamale Queen of Mexico, Beatrice Ramirez, to teach me how,” he told us.
In the course of his tamale education, Lambert learned that tamales freeze well.
“A lot of foods don’t freeze well, but tamales do,” Lambert said. “Something about the masa keeps the vegetables crisp, the meat still fresh, nothing dried out.”
When he opened shop in 2012, he worried that veteran tamale eaters would find his to be untraditional.
“In Mexico, they call the filling ‘flavoring,’” he said. “They don’t expect tamales to be ‘filled.’
“Plus,” he added, “I use parchment paper instead of corn husks to wrap the tamales. They’re cleaner, they’re exactly the size I want, and you can cut them in half with a bread knife for sharing.”
In 13 years of operation, no one has complained.
Lambert works out of a commissary kitchen in Goleta, and while he initially offered three different kinds of tamales, he is now up to 10 varieties, plus special breakfast and holiday season tamales.
“I fill those with turkey, cream cheese and cranberry chipotle,” Lambert shared.
Where does he get his inspiration for new recipes?
“Well, for example, in my breakfast tamales, I put in the things that I like: bacon, caramelized onions, sausage, plus red and green peppers,” Lambert said.
And he will sometimes add olives to certain tamales as an homage to his father.
At Team LGE HQ, the current favorite flavors are the Chicken Verde, Chile and Cheese, the Vegetable and Black Bean. We keep our freezer well-stocked with all of these.
To get Richard Lambert tamales, customers go to his website, place their order, and then pick them up a couple of days later.
“I like meeting and talking with the customers when they stop by,” he told us.
Twice a year, during holiday season and Fiesta, Lambert also teaches classes for home chefs who aspire to become their own best Tamale Queen/King.
We were curious to know why he had picked March 23 for National Tamale Day.
“Some seasonal reasons,” he said, “but mainly because the only competition food-wise that day was Melba Toast.”
Easy win.
Locals Only
Be sure to add some of Lambert’s homemade chipotle or salsa verde to your order. Definitely makes the meal.
How to Order
Go to the Richard Lambert Tamales website, place your order (minimum of 12), and pick them up a few days later. Lambert will include cooking instructions.
