No celebration in Puerto Rico would be complete without a little lechon (roast pork) and pasteles. And although “pasteles” technically means cakes in Spanish, these banana-leaf-wrapped delights are more like the Puerto Rican tamales. A rectangular dumpling of sorts, a pastel starts with green plantain meal that is spread out on a banana leaf and filled with pieces of pork, olives, vegetables and sauce, then folded over and tied. When it’s time to eat them, you simply boil up the packets and serve. The plantain meal creates a much earthier flavor than the corn meal of tamales and can turn from a reddish orange to an army green depending on the spices used in the recipe. While everybody agrees that their abuelita (granny) makes them best, we’ve found some decent pasteles for sale at the upscale Isabel’s (1329 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-243-2929) for $2.95 and La Bruquena (2726 W. Division St.; 773-276-2915) for $1.50-$1.75. But our favorites come from Marta’s Restaurant, where we stock up on plenty for the holidays.
Pasteles $1.50
Marta’s Restaurant
1143 N. California Ave.
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773-384-5403
`Enjoy your meal’
in Spanish: Buen provecho (bwayne pro-vay-cho)
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