Sunday, December 13, 2009

Pasteles A Holiday Family Tradition

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 13, 2009

Milwaukee -The holiday season in December becomes a time to share traditional joy among many Latinos. A favorable pass time is making and cooking those favorite traditional Puerto Rican (PR) foods for local family members and relatives living abroad. Pasteles (PR style tamale dish), morcillas de puerco (blood pork sausage), and requeson with guayava paste (homemade goat milk cheese) are just a few.
Making and serving pasteles during the holidays, especially at Christmas time is a Puerto Rican special occasion food. They are many recipes of the savory cakes in banana leaves.
Family members and relatives usually get together in an assembly-line-style to make large numbers of these starchy, tamal-like cakes and prepare them for the boiling pot. No Boricua Christmas is complete without pasteles.
On Wednesday, Eduardo Velez and Leslie Velez of Milwaukee had a shipment of the above foods delivered from the Island of enchantment. Leslie's mother, Dr. Carmen Sein from Arecibo, Puerto Rico prepared the food from products and vegtables grown in her back yard and garden. It took Dr. Sein between a day to three days to actually cook the pasteles and other delicacies.


Eduardo said, "My mother in law began cooking at about 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and by 10:00 p.m., I was already taking a bite of one of the pasteles." The pasteles are made from yuca, ñame, panapén, guineo, ajise (pique) and carne de puerco. Dr. Sein's recipe makes these pasteles a family choice and no doubt they pack an assortment of flavors that trigger a taste bud eruption while eating them.  


Elier Velez, 3, enjoys eating his grandma's traditional and delicious pastel at the E&J Record store, 1242 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.

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