South Side oddity · Tamale in a hot dog bun
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Chicago tamales are not wrapped in corn husks: they are machine-extruded cornmeal rolls wrapped in paper and heated in the same steamer as the hot dogs.
A Chicago-style tamale laid in a hot dog bun and smothered in chili, sold at a handful of hot dog stands on and near the South Side.
Why it's made this way: Its exact origin is unknown, but the name survives mainly at older South Side hot dog stands; one theory ties it to the Mississippi Delta hot tamales that came north with Black migrants during the Great Migration.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3422 dishes from 118 countries.
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