These aren't your grandmother's tamales.

More than 70 vendors sold thousands of tamales Saturday during the two-day Indio International Tamale Festival.

Many sold the basics — pork, chicken and sweet corn. But there were several exotic options at the festival with flavors like cactus, feta cheese, chocolate-raspberry and turkey with stuffing.

Tamale vendors and their unique tastes tell a story about the Latino holiday tradition that's evolving to reflect a changing community.

Consuelo and her cactus

The desert plant made another appearance this year after becoming one of last year's top tamales.

Consuelo Arredondo's secret masa recipe is subtle yet spicy as it blankets the tangy, bright-green slices of cactus.

Arredondo, 43, of Desert Hot Springs won the Best Overall Tamale at last year's Indio International Tamale Festival.

Her mother taught her how to make tamales at age 13, and she continues the tradition at the Casa Blanca restaurant in Desert Hot Springs.

Cactus is a staple in the Latino diet, Arredondo said. The vegetable can be purchased at any Latino grocery store, but Arredondo got her cactus directly from Mexico for the best flavors.

Veggie tamales for all

Gourmet Tamales, an Oceanside tamale vendor, brought gourmet tamales to tempt the vegetarian palate.

Vendor Eduardo Diaz said he has been a vegetarian for 10 years and wanted to make tamales that reflect his vegetarian diet.

“I want to create healthy stuff for the people,” he said.

He uses fresh, organic vegetables grown at a farm in Carlsbad, Diaz said. He added that his tamales are growing more popular as people become more conscious about their health.

Diaz's spinach and feta cheese tamale is tangy, the sharp flavors of the cheese permeating the masa to taste almost like spinach quiche.

Diaz also sold tamales with feta cheese, corn, jalapeño and sun-dried tomato, as well as tamales with sweet corn and raisins.

Seafood takes the stage

Seafood is not traditionally used as a tamale filling, according to Victor Torres, a resident tamale expert at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. That is because the meat does not cook completely using traditional tamale steaming methods.

But first-time vendor El Gordito took a chance with the meat of the sea. The shrimp is sauteed ahead of time in butter, garlic, jalapeño, tomato and onion, restaurant owner Frank Aguirre said. Then, the precooked mixture is wrapped in the traditional tamales.

The result is a spicy tamale containing completely cooked, flavorful shrimp with a kick of jalapeño.

El Gordito also brought tamales that weren't wrapped in corn husks. Oaxaca-style tamales instead are wrapped in banana leaves.

This is a very traditional Mexican tamale made commonly in the southern region of Oaxaca, Aguirre said. The masa mixture is wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks to hold in moisture.

Dessert diversifies

Bill Barrett's idea to combine his strawberry lemonade recipe with masa has led to some unique dessert tamales for the adventurous palate.

The traditional dessert tamale is sweet corn, Torres said. However, more fruit flavors like strawberry and pineapple have been growing in popularity.

“People are looking for variety,” Barrett said. “It's different from the typical tamale.”

Barrett tried out several more varieties of sweet tamales — caramelized apple, pumpkin, strawberry lemonade and chocolate-raspberry.

The strawberry lemonade tamale is pink, tart and tangy like the drinks that they originate from.

The pumpkin tamale is bright orange and sweet and holds tiny specks of raisin.

The apple tamale looks like the typical light-colored corn tamale on the outside until the slices of juicy, sweet apple appear.

Grandma Lupe's twist

With her three-hour lines and a secret family recipe from Nayarit, Mexico, Grandma Lupe brought her tamales back to the Indio International Tamale Festival for the 12th year.

“The secret is in the sauce and the masa preparation,” said Crispina Calsada, daughter of Grandma Lupe, otherwise known as Guadalupe Calsada.

“We have loyal and repeat customers, and we really enjoy it.”

Grandma Lupe's traditional tamale came piping hot and wrapped in a corn husk. A secret sauce infuses the tamale with a spicy flavor, and pieces of potato meld smoothly with the corn and meat.

But the 79-year-old grandmother also brought a twist this year to her popular recipe. She unveiled a Thanksgiving turkey tamale.

This tamale was simply a holiday dinner wrapped in a corn husk. The masa of the turkey tamale is soaked with gravy. Additional spices make the masa taste more like turkey stuffing. The turkey and yams on the inside are moist and juicy.

It shows that even the traditional Grandma Lupe welcomes the new flavors of tamales that are emerging at the festival, Calsada said.

“It only makes tamales much better known,” she said. “If there are different varieties of tamales that appeal to different types of people, it is much better.”