Pastelles: A brief history
November 25th, 2006 by Trinifood
If you asked the average Trini about the components of a good Christmas meal, I'm positive they’ll mention ham and turkey but their eyes will light up with delight when they mention pastelles.
Pastelles are small meat-filled polenta (cornmeal) pies that many believe were introduced by our Spanish colonisers who ruled between the late 15th and early 18th centuries. They exist in some form or another throughout Latin America and are more commonly known there as hallacas, pronounced hayacas.
The origins of pastelles are unclear but there are two definite theories about how they came into being.
One view is that Spanish colonists who settled in the region made them as a substitute for one of their favourite delicacies - empanada gallega. Empanada gallega and pastelles both have heavily spiced meaty fillings but pastelles are made with cornmeal while the empanada is more like a typical pastry as it's made with white flour.
Interestingly, just up the Caribbean archipelago in Puerto Rico, there's a delicacy similar to empanada gallega known as pastelillos. Check out this recipe for empanada gallega to see how they match up with the pastelle recipes I’ll be giving in my next post.
The other theory of pastelle origin is that Spanish plantation owners in Venezuela gave their servants and slaves the leftovers from the Christmas meal.
The slaves used polenta to make a 'foo foo' type mixture they stuffed with the meat and cooked in banana leaves.
The use of bananas leaves to cook pastelles has been attributed to the African slaves as that method of cooking had been in use in Africa for centuries. Check out this Central African recipe for Baton de Manioc and Chigwankue that employs a similar cooking method to pastelles.
I'd love to know how many pastelles we eat in Trinidad and Tobago annually over the Christmas season, I'd say it's several hundred thousand.
I ate my fair share of pastelles between 1996 and 1999 when I worked as the Society Editor for the Trinidad Express. Having to cover a lot of functions meant eating a lot of pastelles, good and bad.
Chef Eldon Thompson's pastelles were among the best I've ever eaten. The consistency of the cornmeal was perfect as he obviously used a fine grade of cornmeal and the filling was always well-seasoned and juicy. I've also had some really bad pastelles where the cornmeal was too grainy or too lardy, or the filling was dry and bland.
Another thing that contributes to the failure of perfectly good pastelles is warming them up in the microwave which dries them out horribly.
The typical pastelle is filled with beef or pork with raisins and capers, but in recent years, cooks have used vegetables, fish, chicken and even soya to satisfy a range of dietary requirements. I plan to make pastelles this year and I want to make two types - soya and game.
Pastelle making is a somewhat complex and time consuming exercise, and it’s not uncommon for people to have 'pastelle parties' to get as much help as possible. I'm definitely going to get some people in on the act when I make my pastelles.
There's a contraption called a pastelle press that some people use to get the cornmeal mix as flat as possible before filling and folding the pastelle, but in my experience, that's not necessary – a rolling pin or your hands will do quite nicely.
I can't forget to mention that pastelles go really well with chow chow or piccalilli, a condiment made from chopped vegetables and hot spices, generally mustard.
In my next post, I’ll give recipes for pastelles and chow chow.
If anyone has pastelle recipes, feel free to email them to me.
Posted in Food Matters |
November 27th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
They have hallacas in Venezuela too. It’s usually eaten at Christmas time. A traditional food.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
[…] Trinifood offers some historical background on pastelles, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s favourite Christmas delicacies, and a recipe as well. Georgia Popplewell […]
December 10th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
I figure that there’s not enough people opening up restaurants compared to the Asian Indian and East Asians who often rely on entreprenuership and are heavy into the restaurant business. But would you know that the chinese restaurant you’re used to in restaurants from london to the US is not ‘real’ chinese food? Most of them don’t eat that stuff at home.
I personally think caribbean-Jamaican and Trinidadian in particular food is the best out there and am loving this website.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Hey AnonGirl, Thanks for the love. Your points are quite valid!
December 19th, 2006 at 12:10 am
My family is from Hawaii of Puerto Rican decent. Pastelles & chow chow were my favorite since I was a kid. I’m looking for recepies. But, I was always told they were made from green bannana not corn meal. Ours always had spiced pork & black olive - Were my aunts lying about ingredients?
I also am craving gondule rice - anyone out there with a recepie?
Love & Peace -
Dan
December 21st, 2006 at 4:13 am
[…] For Christmas in Trinidad we eat pastelles, ham, macaroni pie and callaloo. We drink sorrel and ginger beer. […]
December 28th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
I just found your blog and love it! I am a Trini living in Philadelphia and I love to cook.
I just ate some good pastelles this Christmas. My aunts made hers from scratch. I will try to get and post the recipe.
Enjoy the holiday.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
ARROZ CON GANDULES:
It’s easy - give it a try.
2 cups short grain rice (rinsed) - long grain will work too
4-5 cups of hot water - appx.
½ cup ready made sofrito
16 ounce can of gandules (cooked green pigeon peas)
2 tablespoons of alcaparrado (cappers and olives mixed together)
1 packet of Sazon with achiote
1 can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons of oil
Salt & pepper to taste
In a medium size caldero add the oil, tomato sauce, alcaparrado, sofrito and sazon. Cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add all other ingredients, and enough water to cover the rice 1″ above the rice line. Start with 1 teaspoon of salt stir and keep adding and mixing well until you are satisfied with the taste. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat until most of the water is absorbed. Once the water has been absorbed, stir gently from bottom to top - once or twice only, cover and turn the heat down to low. Cook for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Stirring the rice after it has begun cooking may cause it go get sticky or “amogollao.”
Any rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot is called “pegao” and is crispy and tasty and a favorite of all true Puerto Ricans. However, not everyone is skilled is making pegao - it is an art. To make great pegao make sure to use plenty of oil. Cook for about 10 minutes longer so the pegao gets crispy and keep your eye on it. Each time you cook rice - check to see how long it takes to make pegao just the way your family likes it. Finally - if you want a lot of pegao - use a bigger caldero which, of course, will have a larger bottom surface.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
PASTELES
2 pork butts, 15 lb. cubed
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 sm. can pimento, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 big onion, chopped fine
2 bunches Chinese parsley, chopped fine
3-4 cans pitted olives, drained
7 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. paprika
2 lg. hot red pepper, chopped fine
4 cans tomato sauce, or more
Fry meat until brown. Add above ingredients. Cook for 1 hour on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup Achoite oil.
Achoite Oil: 2 cups Wesson oil. Cook Wesson oil until just about to boil; add achoite seeds. Lower heat. Cook for 3 minutes or until deep red color has been extracted. Remove from heat and cool. Strain through a sieve and place in a jar.
Masa: 1 bunch Chinese bananas (whole bunch). Peel bananas, put into pan of salt water. After bananas are peeled, grate bananas fine. (Looks like dough.) After all is grated, add salt to taste and aji. Pour achoite oil over bananas, then mix well until blended. Add more salt to grated bananas if needed.
Making of Pasteles: Banana leaf or ti leaves. String to tie. Take 12 x 12 inch banana leaf, oil it, then spread masa (banana mash), then filling (mentuta), spread about 2 x 4 inch wide. Then fold and tie. Boil in boiling water for 1 hour.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
Thanks Terry. This is great.
January 1st, 2007 at 12:36 pm
[…] • Can Cook Must Cook provides two additional recipes for Trinidadian pastelles • Can Cook Must Cook provides an interesting history of the Trinidadian pastelle […]
May 19th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Trinifood,
Im in London for a while and have been cooking for myself. Do youknow where i can find Goya products for cooking? Im am specificaly looking for sofrito, sazon and recaito to use with my beens and potatoes.
May 19th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
If it’s Spanish products you’re looking for, then Brindisa which has branches in Clerkenwell and Borough Market is an option. Their website is www.brindisa.com. Good Luck.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Thanks so much. I actally use it in Puerto Rican dishes that I make. Thanks for the response I will be visiting them this week. Also great list of recipes on the blog, I will be sure to make a few.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:58 am
[…] Can Cook Must Cook is its dearth of culinary exploration. From the quite unusual Stargazy Pie to Pastelles, there is something for every palate at this […]
September 10th, 2007 at 2:18 am
I just had a quick question if someone can write back. I live in the United States and I have no idea where to find chinese parsley, chinese bananas and I have no idea what aji is. I am trying to make pasteles. My father new how to make them but he past away and never wrote the recipe down. I was too little to know where he got the ingredients from. PLEASE reply. Thanks
September 11th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
ALOHA FROM HAWAII!
Try looking for cilantro (chinese parsley…(not the kind we use to garnish food plates)…in your super markets or asian stores…..they are more softer but will last long if you either wrap them in a moist paper towel,refigerating them, freezing them or even put their stems in water and refrigerate..change water daily! Aji or ajinomoto is a Japanese product. Its name is actually monosodium glutamate..no offense to anyone but this may cause health problems like high blood pressure. A sprinkle of it used to zap the flavor of your dish..parents used to use a lot while we were growing up but not anymore with all the news about health. Chinese bananas are shaped differently and taste differently than your typical bananas but seem to work A+ for pastelle making! Aloha & Good luck on your findings.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:58 am
Could someone please tell me where in the U.S I can get some beef pastells to buy?
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hi All! Great responses and comments. I’m a Trini living in Brazil and this Christmas I’m aiming to contribute to this year’s party not with Pastelles but Pastelle Pie. My Mom used to make it but unfortunately I never got the recipe from her before she passed away last year. I’ve searched all over the net and I’ve gotten zero so far…It’s a lovely, simple baked mix of corn four, minced meat, capers, raisins etc. Does anyone have the recipe by chance? Thanks in advance for any help!
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Whoops! Small typo there: I meant to type “corn flour” (the type used to make polenta).
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