The typical Christmas main dish usually features turkey or ham. But when you live in the Southwest, with the culinary influence of Mexico, the plate looks a little different.

Tamales are a tradition for a lot of us in Arizona, whether we can make them ourselves or have to lean on the experts.

Arthur Othon is part of the family that owns the El Bravo restaurants in the Valley, which specialize in tamales. We asked him how the tamale tradition got started.