Pastels
Pastels are a snack in Trinidadian cuisine . They are related to the Central American tamales and are consumed almost exclusively at Christmas time. As classic street food , they are often offered by mobile vendors. They may go back to the Spanish colonial rulers, but since filled dumplings are found all over the world, the exact origin cannot be proven.
For the preparation of pastels, beef mince seared with spices is cooked with tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and various vegetables and herbs. Other popular, optional ingredients are raisins, capers or olives. Then a dough based on cornmeal is made, shaped into balls and rolled out on sohare leaves; there are special presses for this in Trinidad. The prepared mass is poured onto the sheets, covered with dough. The sohare leaves are folded, tied and cooked in steam. Tofu is used instead of beef for vegetarian pastels, and other types of meat such as pork or chicken are sometimes used.
A sweet variant is called paime and is also a Christmas dinner. In this variant, the dish does not contain any filling, as coconut flakes and raisins are already added to the dough.
Soharee (Calathea lutea) is a plant endemic to Trinidad, the leaves of which, in addition to being used for pastels, are also used as a plate substitute for Hindu ceremonies. The leaves only serve as a coating for the pastels during cooking and are not eaten. Because of its much wider distribution, sohare leaves are often replaced by banana leaves.
Web links
- Caribbean Pot: How To Make Pastelles on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ^ Ramin Ganeshram: Sweet Hands. Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago . Hippocrene Books, New York 2012, ISBN 0-7818-1125-2 , pp. 32 .
- ^ The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago. Naparima Girls' High School Cookbook. 2nd edition, 2002, p. 57
- ↑ SimplyTriniCooking.com: Trinidad Paime. Retrieved July 28, 2020 .
- ^ The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago. Naparima Girls' High School Cookbook . 2nd Edition. Naparima Girls' High School, San Fernando 2002, ISBN 976-8173-65-3 , pp. 165 .
- ↑ TriniGourmet.com: Hindu Eating Habits in Trinidad. Retrieved July 28, 2020 .