Tia Yanet's Tamales
On a corner of Carroll Gardens, the best tamales in Brooklyn.
My friends,
Today I am sharing a hyper-local spot here in Carroll Gardens that’s not even a brick and mortar. It’s a fold-up table and a blue tent. But this table and tent is serving the best homemade tamales I’ve ever had. They’re prepared by a fabulous woman named Tia Yanet who has gained quite a following in the neighborhood since she and her son have popped up on the corner of President and Smith, just outside the F train subway, selling her hot tamales.
Tia Yanet makes a few kinds of fresh tamales daily ($3 each): mole (with chicken), salsa verde (with chicken), guajillo (with pork), rajas con queso, and a sweet dulce tamale with raisins and cinnamon.
As the weather has gotten colder, she’s also added hot Arroz con Leche, a sweet rice milk; and Champurrado, a thick, creamy, and chocolatey Mexican drink made with masa harina that will ruin you for ordinary hot chocolate made with milk. There are also a variety of delicious warm conchas for breakfast and snacks and a few overstuffed tortas made every day.
The kids and I often stop by to pick up their lunches on the way to school; Eiji favors the salsa verde and Sam can’t get enough of the mole. I like them all. But mostly I love the sense of love and community that comes from stopping by every morning. You get a hello, a little chat, and a smile. Yesterday Tia’s family were dressed up and giving out amazing Mexican candy to all the kids as they walked to school. You walk away with a package of steaming hot tamales that the kids will open up at lunchtime, and happily devour, remembering their morning conversations with Tia and her son.
There’s a lot of love in those tamales that comes through in the food, and in the community that has sprung up around this table and tent, on the corner of President and Smith. It’s food, a simple warm homemade meal, that creates these bonds, that brings us together, and gives us a sense of belonging and connection. We are faced with so much division and hate these days; it’s heartwarming to stop by at the blue tent, in the early hours of the day, to chat with beautiful people and savor such delicious tamales. Food is love, isn’t it?
I hope you'll pop over and have a tamale or a concha and Champurrado. Enjoy!
Tia Yanet’s Tamales are at the corner of President and Smith weekdays from 8am until they sell out.