LOS ANGELES — With the exception of baby Jesus himself, there is little more sacred to the people of Los Angeles than the traditional Christmas tamal.
Families spend days preparing batches of the dish for Christmas Eve celebrations and, in the holiday spirit of giving, to gift to neighbors and friends.
So when angry customers who had purchased their tamales from L.A.-based Amapola markets lined up on Christmas morning, complete with full pots of ruined, half-husked delicacies, well... something was seriously wrong.
"They're not made right," said customer Jessica Carillo to news station KABC. "I don't know what they did. They even got people in our house sick, too."
The company, which has been in operation for 55 years, said it's still trying to figure out what went wrong with the masa.
According to KABC, Amapola executive Carlos Galvan Jr. said his company had been processing refunds all day. "We'll do it all week, as long as it takes to get everybody whole."
