‘Tis the season to put aside our very tasty obsession with tacos, and move into the realm of tamales — which satisfies my battered soul so much better than just about any other holiday food.

Tamales exude fragrant steam, perfuming their space with the happy smell of masa, of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit, herbs, chiles and so much more. The tamale is a tabula rasa — a blank page on which home chefs have long expressed their love of whatever flavors move them. Tamales bring joy; they’re Santa Claus in a corn husk.

They are traditionally served to honor the birth of a child. Tamales are a much-loved dish at wedding celebrations. A landmark birthday demands tamales to mark the occasion.

And, they’ve been around since the dawn of recorded time; there’s evidence of tamales dating back to 8,000 BC. The Olmecs and Toltecs used them to nourish their armies. The Aztecs and Mayans believed they were the food of the gods. The tamale wasn’t just a tasty dish, it was a sacred sacrament.

These days, it’s the dish of choice for many families at their Christmas feasts. This time of year, they’re not just eaten on Christmas Day, but more broadly from the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12 to Epiphany on Jan. 6.

Tamales are made to travel; the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica figured that out many millennia ago. And, of course, there are good — and often highly creative — tamales to be found at restaurants throughout town.

As is often the case, many of the best tamales are found at stands, food trucks and grocery stores — including Carniceria La Lupita on San Gabriel Boulevard in Rosemead, Leonor Tamales Sabrosos on Garfield Avenue in Pasadena, El Pavo Bakery on Walnut Grove Avenue in San Gabriel, La Moderna Bakery on Norwalk Boulevard in Whittier and Tamale Man on Eastern Avenue in El Sereno.

But, if you want your tamales in a sit-down setting, the options are many.

EL CHOLO

260 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; 626-795-5800, elcholo.com; locations also in Koreatown, downtown L.A., Santa Monica, Anaheim, Corona del Mar and La Habra

The green corn tamales served at El Cholo Pasadena are both delicious and legendary — easily the best tamales served anywhere in town. The sweetness is sublime, the texture exceptional. The aroma perfumes the space around with an aroma that puts Chanel to shame. They’re worthy of being considered a last meal option.

One of my favorite expressions, found stenciled on a wall at the original El Cholo, is, “La vida es muy corta, como para desperadiciarla tomando tequila corriante,” which translates loosely as, “Life is too short to drink bad tequila.” Or, I might add, to eat bad food, either.

The menu here isn’t particularly exotic. Instead, it’s a collection of classics — enchiladas, tacos, chiles rellenos, tamales, quesadillas, nachos, guacamole and the like. But they’re done so well, it’s like tasting them for the first time. It’s as if you’ve never had Mexican food before.

Indeed, there’s a combination platter called “A Taste of History,” a deceptively simple assortment of great dishes that date back to the roots of El Cholo — the cheese enchilada, the beef taco, the chile relleno, the tamale, served with beans and rice.

The roast pork tamale served on the “Taste of History” plate is available all year long. And, it’s a fine tamale. But it’s not the tamale that El Cholo is most famous for. That’s the fabled green corn tamales, served only from May until October. The green corn tamale is so popular, the original restaurant has long thrown a gala fiesta to mark the beginning of the season. It’s sweet in a pleasant way, instantly satisfying, absurdly addictive — a corn husk packed with corn masa, freshly shucked corn, cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter and an Ortega chile.

FONDA DON CHON

618 Shoppers Lane, Covina; 626-332-4712, fonda-don-chon.com

Fonda Don Chon, which is also the name of a highly regarded restaurant in Mexico City, sits just off of Citrus Avenue in Covina. It’s a restaurant that exists, quite happily, in a number of overlapping worlds. It’s a hotbed of retro Mexican cooking, the sort of food that always arrives in “combinations” as ornate as anything you’ll find in a one-from-column-A/two-from-column-B Chinese eatery.

The combinations at Fonda Don Chon sit at the center of the menu, a mix-and-match routine of classic Mexican cooking: tacos, enchiladas, chiles rellenos, tostadas and tamales. The tamales here come with a back story that explains, “Tamales are a typical Mexican street food, similar to Vietnamese bánh tét and bánh less. Made from cornmeal mixed with a variety of ingredients such as meat, fat, cheese, vegetables, chili, fruit and a little mole sauce, tamales are wrapped in banana leaves or corn leaves and then steamed.

“Each region of Mexico has different types of tamales, but the most famous are tamales from Oaxaca with chocolate mole sauce wrapped in banana leaves, and tamales from Mexico City made from chicken and green sauce wrapped in corn husks. … If you have a chance to come to Mexico, try this signature dish and enjoy a wonderful culinary experience.”

And, of course, enjoy them at Fonda Don Chon. Along with the several molcajetes, served in a volcanic rock bowl, in the biggest case a combination of chicken, steak and shrimp with nopales, cilantro, scallions and Oaxaca cheese — a lot of food, every bite of which is wonderful.

MIJARES

145 Palmetto Drive, Pasadena; 626-792-2763, www.mijaresrestaurant.com

Mijares dates back to 1920, which in Pasadena terms is positively Jurassic. It began, according to the menu, as a tortilla factory that “quickly became known for its tiny restaurant featuring Jesucita Mijares’ original recipes … tamales and sauces made with her metate stone grinder carried from Mexico.”

Over the years, the original restaurant turnED into more of a compound that a restaurant, with patios and terraces stretching off here and there.

The food served here is filled with old friends. Though there are certainly dishes on the menu that have been added since 1920, there are also probably a fair number that have passed the test of time.

The combinations are a pleasant and very filling stroll down memory lane: The No. 1 Combo of an enchilada ranchera and a chile relleno served with rice and beans); or the Platillo Mexicano of chile relleno, pork tamales, and a choice of beef tacos, chicken tacos, taquitos, or cheese enchiladas.

It’s perfectly possible to order the appetizer platter and nothing else, for it’s made for two, and could easily feed four diners hungry for taquitos, chimichanguitas, tacos, flautas, quesadillas and guacamole.

But tamales were there at the beginning. And they’re there now.

PORTO’S

584 S. Sunset Ave., West Covina; 626-214-3490, portosbakery.com; locations also in Burbank, Downey, Glendale, Northridge and Buena Park

Mention Porto’s Bakery & Café, and tamales may not be the first food that comes to mind. That’s because Porto’s is a pastry paradise.

But the menu is also a happy world of classic Cuban dishes, along with more modern California foods that have been added over the years. Thus, there’s a crunchy pre-tater tot ball of mashed spuds, filled with well-spiced ground beef, with a layer of bread crumbs that are fried to crispy perfection. Call them papas rellenas. Call the meat pies pastel de carne,.

The tamales are jammed with braised pork, melt-in-your-mouth meat so good you’ll be spoiled when it comes to future tamales of whatever ethnic bent. They almost wean me from my beloved sweet corn tamales. Almost.

Porto’s has grown in the nearly 75 years it’s been the go-to destination for those hungry for a mango mousse cake, and for quick eats like their pastel de chorizo, their papas rellenas, and their guava-flavored barbecue sauce pulled pork sandwich.

Enter Porto’s on a busy day, and you’ll find an affable greeter at the door, who’ll direct you to the line that best fits your needs. The experience is more than a bit like a warm summer’s day at Disneyland. The staff is relentlessly cheerful. The colors are bright. The lines are long, but everyone is good-mannered.

RUDY’S MEXICAN FOOD

602 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia; 626-303-3393

It comes as a surprise to discover that Rudy’s, a longtime staple in the heart of Old Town Monrovia, has only been there since 1994. I would have guessed it had at least a half-century of guacamole and nachos behind it. But the place still feels venerable.

And, there are the tamales — corn packed with chicken or pork, with salsa red or green — in the section of the menu dedicated to tacos and enchiladas and chiles rellenos. It seems right at home. A classic dish in a classic setting.

Even the space is cozy, with groups piled into booths, confronting tables piled high with the requisite chips and salsa that arrive instantaneously.

This is the much-loved, deeply embedded realm of fried Mexican appetizers — numerous quesadillas (chicken, beef, pork, carne asada, crab, shrimp, scallops, fajitas and such), flautas and taquitos.

The Combination Plates do help a bit, because you can mix and match tacos, enchiladas, tamales and chiles rellenos, along with rice and beans, and the ubiquitous holder of hot tortillas.

And in the old school style, you can always get a burger with fries, just in case someone in your party wants a burger with fries.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.