The history of El Terrifico Tamale Company

Corky’s Bar-b-q restaurant was founded in 1984. Don Pelts who started the business had tamales and chili on the original menu. This was a very popular item and became a signature item at the restaurant. The tamales were hand made at El Terrifico Tamale Company which was a Memphis landmark tamale business that started in 1962 by Pewee Mason and supplied all the restaurants in Memphis with homemade tamales. In 1998 Pewee had health issues and could no longer manage the business. Seeing that he was about to close the business for good and that his tamales would no longer be available Corky’s worked out an arrangement with Pewee to purchase the business and continue to supply restaurants in Memphis with their high-quality tamales. Once Corky’s purchased the business, they began looking for other ways to grow. One idea was to introduce a line of cheese dips to the Memphis area. El Terrifico started with a yellow mild and spicey cheese dip in 2001. Realizing a demand for white cheese dip that was being offered in many ethnic restaurants in Memphis El Terrifico launched the first white cheese dip in 2005. It was an immediate success. Since then, El Terrifico has sold its white cheese dip across the country in almost every national retailer, online and on the QVC channel.