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During the development of his recipe, Luis Santos contacted his aunts who craft tamales each weekend: “I reached out to the specialists.” (USC Photo/Stephen Gee)
University
Keck Medical Center of USC chef secures national accolade for plant-based tamale recipe
NARRATIVE AND VIDEOS: Executive Chef Luis Santos’ reimagined Honduran tamale was selected from five contenders. Discover the story behind it — and find out how to create the delectable dish.
Exceptional gourmet cuisine is not commonly anticipated at a medical facility. Nevertheless, Keck Medical Center of USC Executive Chef Luis Santos is striving to alter that perception. His plant-based deconstructed Honduran tamale was awarded this year’s champion of the national Health Care Culinary Contest.
Santos’ innovative take on a classic recipe drew inspiration, in part, from his family’s Honduran roots.
“We embrace inclusivity at Keck Medical Center of USC, and I had yet to see my culture reflected in our dishes, so I chose to integrate my heritage,” Santos mentioned. “I had to consult with my aunts who produce tamales for a living each weekend for guidance. Essentially, I reached out to the specialists.”
Luis Santos shares the motivation behind the dish:
Santos supervises the creation of over 3,000 meals daily. “I was pleased to see that many of the critics who sampled this dish considered it to be a gourmet offering,” he said.
“I received numerous requests for a meat variation, and those individuals were delighted with this vegetarian dish, expressing how fantastic it was,” he noted.
Luis Santos guides you on how to prepare his award-winning plant-based deconstructed Honduran tamale:
Santos was honored at the CleanMed 2025 conference in Atlanta from May 6-8, where his acclaimed dish was presented to participants. He will also be acknowledged at the Culinary Institute of America’s Menus of Change Leadership Summit in June in Hyde Park, New York.
The yearly contest is coordinated by Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth and Menus of Change, a project of The Culinary Institute of America, the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the College of Food Innovation & Technology at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. It aims to empower culinary health professionals to enhance their menus with plant-based selections that encourage sustainability.
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