Mi abuela made pasteles for the holidays, as did every self-respecting Puerto Rican in The Bronx. Even though I watched sometimes, I never tried. It looked like not a fun thing to do during the holidays. After my grandmother moved to Florida as was mandated by the Death Panels at the time, there were still grandmotherly types who would sell you a pack of two for a buck. Nowadays, even these are getting few and far between.
So I have decided to try my hand at making a batch for New Year. i am planning to follow this recipe as it looks very much like my grandma’s recipe. However, now that I’ve decided to do it, I’m getting cold feet.
No way I’m doing it grandma’s way with a grater, yet I’m frightened of turning the veggies into mush in the food processor, which isn’t what you want. But what is really, really scaring me is the building of the pastel. It looked impossibly complicated when I watched my grandmother do it. She had years and years of practice and had a banana leafed, masa poured, meat spread, parchment wrapped pair hog-tied in a minute.
Any advice from anyone? About anything? Maybe I’ll just chicken out. . .
But the recipe says you’re to churn everything in the food processor to “an oatmeal consistency”! Sounds like your grandma did it one way and this grandma does it another.
Does your mixer have a shredder attachment? The sort of thing you’d use to grate cheese or carrots, that doesn’t grind everything in a bowl but shoots it out all shredded? Maybe that’s your key to making it easy but not mush.
My mom and aunt and I have been making and messing up potica (nut roll) for a decade now. Everyone still eats it, and every year we tweak the recipe or the method to make it better and easier. The key to making them of course is spending time together and then everyone enjoying the outcome.
You won’t know until you try! Someone’s got to keep the tradition alive!
My approach for making new foods I’ve never made before, but have an idea of what they’re supposed to be like and taste like, is extensive YouTube research. Just watch a bunch of videos to get the general idea and technique down, and give it a try. It makes a HUGE difference for me doing it this way rather than simply relying on written instructions. And, of course, do a trial run or two first before going crazy for the party. Even if I get it on the first try, there still usually is something I either want to slightly tweak, or the successful run at least gives me a good idea of what the consistency of the ingredients should be like before they are cooked.
And don’t chicken out. That’s how we learn to cook. We make mistakes, we adjust, and we learn. It’s exoeriential. Plus you get to eat your mistakes! (And most of the time, mistakes aren’t inedible—they just yield an ugly product.)
Oh my! I thought this thread sunk with no replies! Thanks everyone.
The veggies are boiled first and then grated for a masa that is thick. Food processing turns everything to liquid-- not the same texture. But I’m still doing it on the processor because I live in this here brand new century.
I haven’t made that particular item (first time I see them, and that in picture) but from experience making other things where stuffing is placed inside something else which then gets folded over it: use a lot less stuffing than you want to. And don’t try to hurry yourself: there’s dishes that nowadays I can whip up enough for 10 people in half an hour so long as nobody breaks my flow, but that’s after decades of practice. I certainly wasn’t born being able to keep two different pots and a frying pan going at the same time while preparing the salad.
The article does not make me feel any more confident that my pastelada for one is going to be successful. But now I feel I really have to try because we really are running out of Puerto Rican abuelas who cook pasteles for the holidays.