¡Hoy es sábado sabroso! (Today is savory Saturday!)
La fecha es el diecinueve (19) de agosto del año dos mil veintitrés. (The date is August 19, 2023.)
El plato de la semana es: pasteles. (The dish of the week is: pasteles.)
We’ve learned about tamales from El Salvador, Guatemala (chuchitos), Nicaragua (yoltamales), and Venezuela (hallacas). This week, pasteles, Puerto Rican tamales, are on the menu. Pasteles are wrapped in banana leaves and feature a root vegetable dough filled with meat stew.
Para preparar los pasteles necesitamos: (To prepare pasteles, we need:)
| muslos de pollo sin hueso y piel | (boneless, skinless chicken thighs) |
| adobo | (seasoning composed of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, salt, and black pepper) |
| sazón | (seasoning with culantro and achiote) |
| ajo en polvo | (garlic powder) |
| orégano | (oregano) |
| caldo de pollo | (chicken broth) |
| caldito de pollo | (chicken bouillon) |
| hojas de laurel | (bay leaves) |
| olivas rellenas de pimiento | (pimento-stuffed olives) |
| aceite de oliva | (olive oil) |
| sofrito | (mixture of onion, garlic, cilantro, culantro,sweet peppers, and bell peppers) |
| pasta de tomate | (tomato paste) |
| yautia blanca | (taro root) |
| yuca | (cassava) |
| calabaza | (pumpkin) |
| guineos verdes | (green bananas) |
| aceite de canola | (canola oil) |
| hojas de guineo | (banana leaves) |
Set aside a couple of hours to prepare your pasteles with this receta (recipe). ¡Qué rico! (How delicious!) Practice saying the name of each ingredient as you incorporate it.
¡Que tengas un sábado saludable! (May you have a healthy Saturday!)
L. A. Feliz