Pasteles Survival Story
Poetry and Contribution by Rachel O’Hanlon Rodriguez
Dedicated to Puerto Rico and all of its descendants <3
"And you know when it's done, when at the end of two + days you've wrapped and stuffed all your pork and masa in banana leaves."
Things that are worth it aren't always easy.
We should take care of one another.
1. El Principio (The Beginning)
Winter is the darkest of times
And 2020 brought in the
Darkest winter of our collective lives.
It was December. Christmas was approaching.
The distance between myself and
My family grew quietly
In the stillness of quarantine,
But I thought to myself:
Over the course of my life
So many traditions have been robbed of me.
What is the loss of one more?
Over the course of my life
So many traditions have been robbed of me.
What is the loss of one more?
I tried to not think about Christmas,
My deceased Father’s birthday,
But I couldn’t act like it wasn’t
Going to arrive this year
Same as every other.
I still needed something.
Something to fill me up.
Something to pass the time.
Something I could reclaim for my own.
I combed through memories
And one evening I was struck
With the sharp vision of the
Ghost of Christmas Past
Dressed in the comforting smell
Of Pasteles.
I remembered my childhood freezer
Filled with small savory packages.
My family never made them.
My mother purchased them from a friend.
We’d pop them into boiling water
And unwrap these small presents
Of warmth and love
Every year.
Until my mom got sick.
My mouth watered at their memory.
I was surprised,
How did I forget about these?
A traditional Puerto Rican meal
Ripped away by time passing
Like so many parts of myself
Lost
Waiting to be found.
So I set myself to finding my way back home.
I became obsessed with Pasteles.
A Christmas tradition for many Puerto Rican families, Pasteles are so labor intensive, most people purchase Pasteles from a specific community member or family.
To make Pasteles is a commitment.
The Yuca or Platano needs to be transformed into masa (or dough) by the long process of peeling, grating, and draining.
The achiote oil needs to be pulled from the Anato Seeds.
The meat needs to be cooked.
The banana leaves and parchment paper cut to size…and we haven’t even gotten to preparing the Pasteles themselves.
Luckily for modern folks, we have shortcuts on this journey: frozen masa that need only be thawed and drained, and Achiote Oil ready and waiting in a small glass jar.
I almost felt guilty exchanging my 4 pounds of Yuca y Platano for the frozen masa, but later I would stand with my hands coated in Masa struggling to understand how to drain the slippery sweet dough correctly and grateful for the small saving of time.
*****
2. La Mitad (the middle)
Pasteles take time.
Pasteles are made in the hungry season
To ensure everyone remains fed through the dark days that lie ahead.
They are formed by the hands of a community
And they need space to take shape.
The ingredients alone take over a whole table:
A big bowl of masa prepped and ready to go with a ½ cup lying in wait
A big bowl of cooked pork stuffing (try not to eat it!)
Piles of banana leaves cut into squares
Pasteles take time.
Pasteles are made in the hungry season
To ensure everyone remains fed through the dark days that lie ahead.
Piles of parchment paper cut into larger squares
Cooking String
Scissors which you’ll all misplace somehow
And a spray bottle of water which will make sense later
My partner and I had research the process.
A dance of hands assemble, shape,
Wrap, and tie small parcels together.
We discussed and memorized the choreography.
Ready to clumsily put the sequence together:
First lay down the parchment paper.
Sit the banana leaf on top.
Add a small amount of oil from the pork to the leaf,
Then on top of that a ½ cup of Masa,
The on top of that a big spoonful of Pork Stuffing,
And be sure to get a little of everything into each package:
Pork, olives, y garbanzo beans.
Next comes the scary part.
The inversions.
This messy tower needs to be shaped,
Formed, and wrapped into a Christmas present.
Spray the parchment paper with water so it folds
Like gentle wrapping paper guiding the banana leaf
To create a secure package that won’t break open.
Your hands must be both firm and gentle as you
Guide the paper in half, back over itself.
Take care of the sides, press out excess liquid,
Smooth out edges, and
Encase the pork in the Masa,
Within the soft Banana Leaf,
Protected by the waxy paper.
But all good presents deserve a bow,
And Pasteles are no different.
Pasteles need to be paired,
Partnered together so they
Don’t come undone in the cooking process.
But all good presents deserve a bow,
And Pasteles are no different.
Pasteles need to be paired,
Partnered together so they
Don’t come undone in the cooking process.
After you fold two Pasteles,
You’ll need 3 feet of string
Or about the distance of your
Hand to your elbow
Up and down
Three times in a row.
Draw a string C on your table
With the ends facing the same way
Place the Pasteles
With their folds facing inside
Vertically in the center of that C
Now just
Pull the ends through the loop
Turn Pasteles
Bring strings to the other side
Tie and turn
Flip
Bring to left
Bring to right
Tie and turn
Flip
One final tie
Not too tight
Pasteles expand when they cook.
Got it?
Good!
My partner and I repeated
The tower act,
Inversions, and string dances
Over and over again
Laughing and drinking Coquito
Occasionally getting distracted by the
Muppets Christmas Carol
Playing in the back.
We repeated the dances until they became meditation.
We repeated the dance and my hands moved
Through the steps easily.
All these years the tradition was alive
Dormant inside my bones,
Waiting to be remembered.
Waiting to be shared.
And you know when it's done, when at the end of two + days you've wrapped and stuffed all your pork and masa in banana leaves.
And you know when it's done, when at the end of two + days you've wrapped and stuffed all your pork and masa in banana leaves.
****
3. El final es también el principio (the end is also the beginning)
By the end two days of work, we had a dozen packages lining our kitchen counter, like a dozen Christmas presents waiting to be opened.
The simplest part of the Pasteles process is the cooking and eating.
All you need to do is boil the Pasteles in salt water
For 45 minutes
An hour if they’re frozen.
After all the labor you have a simple meal
That will keep for months in your freezer.
Without a large family to share our Pasteles with, I filled my bookbag with these presents, and rode my bike
I couldn’t feel my hands on some of those bike rides, but the more I rode and gave out these small parts of myself the more I got to tell folks about
This Puerto Rican tradition,
The importance of building things together,
Sharing with one another, and
Making sure there’s enough for all of us
To survive our darkest of days.
This Puerto Rican tradition,
The importance of building things together,
Sharing with one another, and
Making sure there’s enough for all of us
To survive our darkest of days.
Comments