SEATTLE — From a large window inviting passerby eyes into the Hernandez kitchen, authentic flavors rich with Mexican culture are brought together, tied, and handled with care.
"It's a perfect combination of like Mexico in your mouth, but also culture that gives you like warmth inside," said Osbaldo Hernandez, co-owner of Frelard Tamales.
At the head of a small early morning assembly line inside Frelard Tamales in Seattle's Green Lake neighborhood is a woman who was raised in a small village just outside of Puerto Vallarta.
Evagenlina Sahagun met Javier Hernandez in the Mexican town of Gargantillo, Jalisco, and married into a family specialty. She learned to make tamales from her mother-in-law and brought the skill to the United States in 2002.
Sahagun's son, Osbaldo Hernandez, introduced the family recipe to the Fremont Sunday Market in 2015 with a small pop-up tent.
"It's a very spongy, moist masa that's favorable because of the lard, but also the sauce that goes into the chicken," said Hernandez. "It just, it's tart, little spicy."
Now, Hernandez and his husband own the Seattle restaurant where his mother and father both work. Frelard Tamales is pretty popular as customers come back again and again for the thing they do so well.
"Every once in a while, we do have other traditional dishes like pozole or mole, but our main, really featured item is tamales," explained Hernandez.
The restaurant is possible because of a learned family tradition in Mexico. For Hernandez, it’s a strong connection to his family roots.
"My mom grew up in a village of 1,000 people. I grew up there," said Hernandez. "I was born around that area, and that's where my family...my great grandmother, her mother, and grandmother are from there."
For Seattle, Frelard Tamales shares something special and unique.
"The Pacific Northwest is a very -- historically it's been a very white predominantly corner of the U.S. and being in an interracial couple, my husband being white and myself being Mexican, I find that [keeping] this business alive and being part of this Mexican tamale shop elevates and honors that culture that I bring into the Pacific Northwest," explained Hernandez.
The old saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is not entirely correct. It's the 21st century, so everyone should be included.
"Food is a common language that can bring us together, and we hope that people take that opportunity not just to step [into] our window, but also to try the local Indian place in the neighborhood, or the local Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. It's what makes this country so great," said Hernandez.
