Pasteles de Masa:

Gina:

Thanks for your message. I am from Ponce, but I live and work in San Juan, since 1970. Is your mother in Florida or is she in another part of the United States? There are a lot of Puerto Ricans in Florida. As a matter of fact, my brother lives in Miami, and my secretary and husband just moved to Tampa. I travel a lot as part of my job, but mostly to Washington,D.C.

I have never been to Cuba, but I have excellent friends who have intermarried with puertoricans and who now have puertorican daughters and sons.

I was a little bit reluctant to include Pasteles in my recipes because they are somewhat complicated and time consuming. But I am sure that you can easily handle the procedure and prepare them, probably adapting them to your particular taste. I am including a basic recipe, but I can prepare Pasteles de Yuca, Pasteles de Arroz, or Pasteles de Repollo, which is a version where my mother excelled. Later, I will gladly take some time to include all the different versions, for your enjoyment. Thanks again for your kindness.

PASTELES (makes 80 pasteles, enough to give as gifts to family and friends. You can reduce the quantity to 24, or to half, but if you have a big freezer and cooperation from the family, you can go ahead and make the 80 pasteles because they keep very well in the freezer. Pasteles are almost always accompanied by arroz con gandules, morcillitas, cuajitos, and other delicacies, which I am sure you have heard of. Probably, your mamá had tasted them and also, the other dishes which I mention and which I am sure will be anathema for American palates. )

SEASONED OIL:
3/4 cup of achiote (annato seed)
1 1/2 cups olive extra virgin oil

MEAT:
15 pounds of boneless pork meat
1 1/4 cup of a good sofrito, including chunks of Jamon de cocinar and good cilantrillo
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 /2 box of raisins
2 cups boiled Chickpeas
2 7oz cans of diced pimentos
3 tb salt
1 cup sherry vinegar
4 or 5 bay leaves.
(some cooks add sliced almonds)

GREEN BANANAS MIX:
4 lbs yautía (taro roots)
20 lbs. Green bananas, peeled (racimo de guineos)
5 green plantains, peeled
3 tb salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup of sauce from the cooked meat

8 packs of banana leaves (in Latin markets you can get a white paper that might substitute the banana leaves)
Strings, to tie the pasteles.

PROCEDURE:

Pour the oil and annato in a saucepan or skillet and cook at moderate temperature, for 15 or 20 minutes. The oil will be red from the achiote. Strain the oil and discard the achiote seeds. Set the oil aside for cooling. Wash the pork, if possible, with sour orange. Cut the pork in chunks not larger than 1/2" cubes.

In a large pot, add 1/2 cup of the seasoned oil and the other ingredients included under MEAT. Mix well and cook for at least 45 minutes. Set aside. While the meat is cooking, peel the bananas, yautía and plantains (here is where a family communal effort is very important) and put them in salt water. This will prevent them from staining. Try to use rubber kitchen gloves for the peeling process.

Grind the bananas, plantains and yautías. Do not grind too fine, since this will ruin the mix. This can be done with the food processor or with an old fashioned meat grinding machine. As the mix is being ground, place the grounded portions in commercial containers. Once all items are grounded,, add in the milk, 1 cup of seasoned oil, salt and 1/2 cup of the sauce from the cooked meat. Mix well until all items are evenly distributed.

Clean and cut the banana leaves into approximately 12 inches rectangles. On a table, assemble the pasteles. Place the banana leaves rectangle on top of the table. Put 1 or 2 tb annato oil in the middle of the rectangle. On top of the oil, place about 4 tb banana mix, well spread, forming a smaller rectangle(5x8). Put 2 tb of the cooked meat mixture on top of the banana mix, spreading it down the center lengthwise. Fold in half widthwise. Fold in half once again. Fold in the end, taking care that by folding you do not apply too much pressure and the mix oozes out. Tie the pastel like a gift, so that both extremities are tied. Remember, not too much pressure. By this stage, you can stop and freeze as many as you want.

Cook the pasteles in a big pot, in enough salted water to cover. Cook at moderate high, and when the water boils, lower to moderate and cover. Cook for another 45 minutes. If they are frozen, you will have to cook them for more or less of 1 hour. Once cooked, remove promptly from the water. Remove the leaves and serve.