For Gina:

ON PASTELES AND PASTELITOS

A promise is a promise. I promised my friend, Gina, to post a few thoughts about the above mentioned concepts, and their development in Puertorican Cuisine.

If you ask someone from Puerto Rico about the origin of the PASTELES, without any doubt, they will answer that they were originated in Puerto Rico. In my opinion this is true regarding Pasteles made up mainly of green bananas and plantains. But in Mexico, we have the Tamales, and in South America, we have the Humitas and the Hallacas. The common denominator is the Indian influence, with the use of whatever ingredient was best suited and available for their use.

But, we also have the Dolmades and the other varieties of Arab originated pastelitos (cabbage wrapped rice concoctions). We might venture that there was some kind of relationship or familiarity among all of them. The Puerto Rican Pasteles are extremely versatile, and without exaggeration we can assure that they are the best.

I am going to include several additional recipes, which will follow the same principles as my previous recipe, specially, on the subject of covering the pasteles with a plantain leaf and tying them with a string, usually, in pairs, facing each other. Gina, this is for your enjoyment. I hope you will try at least one of the variations.

PASTELES DE ARROZ (Rice pasteles)

3 cups rice
3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 tb olive oil
chicken, pork or beef, cubed and stewed
banana leaves (or its substitution)
strings, to tie the pasteles

Sauté the rice with the olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, onion and sauce. You might add some chopped olives and pimentos if desired. Add the water or chicken stock. Cook in medium high until the water evaporates and it begins to form craters. Switch off the temperature.

Cut the banana leaves in rectangles, on top of a comfortable table (to assemble the pasteles). Add a big cucharón of rice (serving spoon full of rice which is still al dente, not fully cooked) on top of the banana leave, forming a smaller rectangle. In the center of the rice, add a serving spoon full of the stew. Then, you fold twice, very carefully, the PASTEL DE ARROZ, and tie it so that both extremities are tied. Cook the PASTELES in a salted water pot for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once cooked, remove promptly from the water; remove the leaves and serve.

PASTELES DE YUCA (Cassava Pasteles)

3 packages frozen ground cassava (available at Latin Markets)
2-1/2 lbs. pork meat, cut in chunks, not larger than 1/2 inch cubes,
1/2 lb diced cured ham
1 cup Sofrito
15 chopped stuffed green olives
1/4 cup small capers, drained
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup tomato sauce
Olive oil
1 cup achiote oil
salt and pepper to taste

Drain carefully the ground cassava, taking out as much water as possible. Add to the cassava the salt, pepper, annato oil and and more or less 1 cup of the sauce from the stewed meat. The meat should be stewed with the cured ham, sofrito, chopped olives, capers, raisins, tomato sauce, some olive oil, some annato oil for additional color, salt and pepper to taste and some wine for cooking. The resulting sauce will be used as flavoring to add to the ground cassava.

For the assembling and cooking process, use a similar process as with the Pasteles de Plátano or the Pasteles de Arroz.

VARIATION:
My mother used to prepare this Pasteles de Yuca and she used big steamed cabbage leaves to cover them. She formed an envelope with the cabbage leaf, then she placed the Pasteles with the opening, face down, one near the other in a greased baking dish. She covered the pasteles with a Tomato Sauce (Please, refer to Gina's contribution for the ROPA VIEJA on January 18, 2000, where she gives a wonderful recipe for TOMATO SAUCE FOR ROPA VIEJA.), covered them with aluminum foil and baked them in a 350 F oven, for at least 1 1/2 hours.

The results are extraordinary. The recipes are very old, as my mother and myself prepared the dishes, based on our own notes. Count at least two pasteles for each guest. Some green salad and some white rice, and Voilá, you have a wonderful dinner. All Pasteles in their different varieties are excellent to freeze.

Bon Appetit.