Everyone has at least one food that conjures up memories—that dish that, when eaten, mentally transports you to the time and place a dish changed your life. I know I do. Sometimes I find myself in a hole-in-the-wall in Peshawar, Pakistan, eating beef kebabs; in an olive grove on the French island of Corsica sampling dried pork and liver sausage alongside the stinkiest, gooiest cheese I can find; on the streets of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico learning just how special a tamale can truly be. That last one hits close to home just now, too, thanks to a recent meal at Fiesta Oaxaca.
I’d walked by the downtown restaurant for years, but after recently learning chef/owner Alberto López Palacios not only makes many of his foods Oaxacan style but offers numerous vegan options, I finally had to sample the tamale. Of course, I had my reasons to visit beyond simply loving tamales.
Some years ago, a delayed bus ride from Mexico City to Oaxaca left me standing outside a station at 4 am. Somehow, I couldn’t find a single outlet, leaving me with a dead phone and hours to kill before I could check into my hotel. Rather than sitting in the bus station, I wandered the empty cobblestone streets in the dark until, eventually, the sun began to rise. Shops opened, children rushed to school and the aroma of roasting cacao beans and freshly-made tortillas filled the air. This is also when I first discovered Oaxacan tamales.
Hailing from Vermont, tamales aren’t exactly something I knew at the time. We were more pancake and homemade maple syrup people. In fact, I hadn’t even tried tamales until two years before my Mexico trip when I learned in Guatemala that they were one of my favorite foods. The Oaxacan version is on a whole other level, however, particularly the first one I ever tried. The sweet, earthy masa mixed with tender chicken and a chocolatey and faintly spicy mole complemented the distinct flavor lent by the banana leaf wrapping. While banana leaves are famously a staple in Central American cuisine, the corn husk version is the more widely known variety, particularly when we think of Mexican food. Since banana trees found their way to Mexico with Spanish explorers in the 1500s, and with the fruit’s prevalence in the southern regions of the country, banana leaf-wrapped tamales have become an integral part of Oaxacan cuisine. This version was like nothing I had ever tasted and has since been something I crave regularly.
Which brings us back to the present when and where the lure of Fiesta Oaxaca’s Oaxacan style tamales lured me into the restaurant. Owner Palacios was born and raised in Oaxaca and has been sharing his favorite family recipes with Santa Fe for a little over five years now, and since his menu also offers an extensive variety of moles—another favorite—served with various meats ($17-$20), plus enchiladas ($16), tamales ($14) and other dishes, I’m not sure why I waited.
I arrived on a Friday afternoon around 4:30 to avoid the dinner rush. I was greeted by the friendly staff and brought to a table on the well-shaded, streetside patio. Without hesitation I ordered the vegan Oaxacan tamale and it was brought out within ten minutes of placing my order. At first glance, it didn’t look like much to be honest—a single tamale, unwrapped on a banana leaf, tossed on a plate. It felt like something was missing, like rice and beans or some kind of side. Luckily, the Fiesta Oaxaca tamale is huge and smothered in velvety mole then topped with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. It was also excellent.
The mole had the slight bite of chocolate with a subtle fruitiness, plus a borderline perfect spicy kick from the dry roasted chile that balanced out its complex richness. This paired quite well with the flavors of corn. Fiesta Oaxaca’s vegan version is fairly simple—a tamale and mole. But it works well, even without the chicken I’d tried those years ago in Mexico. Was it identical to the one I had that morning in Oaxaca? Not exactly. Do I wish there was an extra spoonful or two of mole? Most definitely. But I’m pretty sure it’s as close as I’m going to get in Santa Fe. Keep in mind that the $14 price tag at Fiesta Oaxaca is a pretty hefty upcharge compared to the $2 I paid in Mexico, but what do you expect with a Plaza-adjacent restaurant? I’m just glad that if I get the urge to feel like I did in Oaxaca, Fiesta Oaxaca is just around the corner.
