Here’s the Salsa! Week 13:

Pasteles

by | Jan 3, 2020 | SGCItoday

Pasteles are a treasured holiday dish in Puerto Rico. They are so beloved that A National Festival of Puerto Rican Pasteles is held every November in the city of Orocovis. The complex process of making pasteles is an important holiday tradition. Because the process is so labor-intensive, some families today order the pasteles from caterers or buy them from a neighbor who is dedicated to the tradition. However, the families that do make pasteles themselves gather in the kitchen and form an assembly line. Each person has a job that has to be done hundreds of times to make a large quantity of pasteles. According to Roberto Múcaro Borrero, a Puerto Rican who is in touch with his culture’s traditions, “Even today, making pasteles is still a family affair, for example, your Mom might grate the yucca or guineo (green banana), while an aunt will prepare the masa, grandma could be seasoning the meat to perfection, and a cousin can literally wrap the whole process up nicely.” In Puerto Rico, the Christmas celebrations extend from Thanksgiving to January 6, Three Kings Day, so when a family gathers together to make this dish, they sometimes prepare hundreds of pasteles to last through the holiday season. Excerpted from: https://tenochtitlan.omeka.net/exhibits/show/pasteles