Not your average tamale

Nothing says the holidays are here than the fresh smell of tamales in the air.

With the Indio International Tamale Festival being this weekend, vendors are prepping their tamales ahead of the two-day event.

The yearly tradition is making its return after a two year hiatus because of the pandemic, bringing tamale connoisseurs and anyone with a love for a tamale back.

One of the businesses making their return this year is Outside the Masa which will be selling their unique beef birria tamale.

“The idea was to create this deconstructed inside out tamale where we would open the husk, we would part the masa, you know a little bit in the middle, and then throw the fresh juicy birria right on top of it.” explained Juan Carlos Barajas, co-founder of Outside the Masa.

This small tamale business got its official start at the 2016 tamale festival. Barajas said as a start-up they only expected to sell a few, but sold out their entire batch in the first four hours of the festival.

Since then, Outside the Masa has popped up at other local events also. The business operates solely out of the Barajas home, making the tamale making business a family affair.

The man behind Outside the Masa's birria is Juan Carlos' father, Carlos Baraja, who said he spent years perfecting his birria recipe.

“We knew my dad had something special when we were living in the apartments when we were small, people started asking him can you make birria for our quinceneras, weddings. And then it went off." said Juan Carlos Barajas.

Carlos' family contributed to the idea of making what they now sell as the birria tamale.

The Indio Tamale Festival will be from December 4 and December 5 starting at 10 a.m. on both days. It will be at 100 Civic Center Mall in downtown Indio.

There will also be live music, luchadores, "The World's Biggest Bounce House", and plenty of tamales to choose from.

Admission is free and parking is available at the County's Administration Building, Larson Justice Center, on the corner of Highway 111 and Oasis Street. Free shuttles will be provided.