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Pasteles
''Pasteles'' (; singular ''pastel''), also pastelles in the English-speaking Caribbean, are a traditional dish in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean coast of Colombia, the dish looks like a tamal. In Hawaii, they are called ''pateles'' in a phonetic rendering of the Puerto Rican pronunciation of ''pasteles'', as discussed below. Puerto Rican pasteles Related to alcapurria, tamales, hallacas, and guanimes, pasteles were originally made by the indigenous people of Boriquen (Puerto Rico). Tainos made masa from cassava, yautía and squash. The masa was then filled with beans, fruit, chilies, corn, nuts, meat, fish and wrapped in corn husk. Pasteles can be traced back several centuries to Spanish colonial times, before they became an essential Puerto Rican Christmas dish. In ''Eating Puerto Rico: A History of Food, Culture, and Identity'', Ortíz Cuadra explains that ...
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Hallaca
Hallaca (, ; alt. spelling, ''hayaca'' and ''ayaca'') is a traditional dish from Venezuela that looks like a tamal, though different in flavour, texture, ingredients and cultural significance. It consists of corn dough stuffed with a stew of beef, pork, or chicken and other ingredients such as raisins, capers, and olives, fresh onion rings, red and green bell pepper slices. There are vegetarian hallacas, made with black beans or tofu. Hallacas are folded in plantain leaves, tied with strings, and boiled. The dish is traditionally served during the Christmas season and has several regional variants. It has been described as a national dish of Venezuela. Some speculate it originated from the Orinoquia. Characteristic of the hallaca is the delicate corn dough made with consommé or broth, and lard colored with annatto. Hallacas are also commonly eaten in eastern Cuba, Trinidad where it is called pastelle, and parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Aruba, and Curaçao. Origins Hallaca is a ...
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Tamales
A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, herbs, chilies, or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned. ''Tamale'' is an anglicized version of the Spanish word (plural: ). comes from the Nahuatl . The English "tamale" is a back-formation of , with English speakers interpreting the ''-e-'' as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix ''-es''. Origin Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 BC. The preparation of tamales is likely to have spread from the indigenous cultures in Guatemala and Mexico to the rest of Latin America. According to archaeologists Karl Taube, William Saturno, and David Stuart, tamales may date from around 100 ...
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Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin (island), Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at , and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people (2022 est.), down from 10.8 million in 2020, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish language, Spanish. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. They had constructed an advanced farming and hunting society, and were in the process of becoming an organi ...
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Dumpling
Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fish, tofu, cheese, vegetables, fruits or sweets. Dumplings may be prepared using a variety of methods, including baking, boiling, frying, simmering or steaming and are found in many world cuisines. In the United States in May 2015 National Day Calendar listed National Dumpling Day as held on September 26, annually. African Banku and kenkey are defined as dumplings in that they are starchy balls of dough that are steamed. They are formed from fermented cornmeal. Banku is boiled and requires continuous kneading, while kenkey is partly boiled then finished by steaming in corn or banana leaves. Tihlo—prepared from roasted barley flour—originated in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and is now very popular in Amhara as well and ...
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Guanime
Guanimes are a prepared food that can be traced back to the pre-Columbian era in Puerto Rico. Origin Guanimes are related to tamales and hallacas. Cornmeal masa is wrapped in corn husk stuffed with meat, nuts, fish, beans, or nothing at all. They are then boiled like tamales and hallacas. Taínos in Puerto Rico also mashed a variety of tubers and squash into the cornmeal masa. This later became the modern day ''pasteles''. Modern Puerto Rico To prepare guanime dough ''(masa)'' dry corn kernels must be boiled until soft and left over night in water. Once the corn has softened even more it is then mashed with salt, lard, broth and coconut milk until it resembles a dough similar to bread. A small amount of the dough is then put onto a banana leaf forming into small logs, wrap and tied on both ends. Once wrap they boiled in salt water. They are then served traditionally with salted cod fish stew. ''Guanimes de Plátano'' replace corn with green plantains with the same ingredients. ...
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Tamal
A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, herbs, chilies, or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned. ''Tamale'' is an anglicized version of the Spanish word (plural: ). comes from the Nahuatl . The English "tamale" is a back-formation of , with English speakers interpreting the ''-e-'' as part of the stem, rather than part of the plural suffix ''-es''. Origin Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 BC. The preparation of tamales is likely to have spread from the indigenous cultures in Guatemala and Mexico to the rest of Latin America. According to archaeologists Karl Taube, William Saturno, and David Stuart, tamales may date from arou ...
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Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its capital and most populous city is San Juan. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates. Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of indigenous peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was then colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. Puerto Ri ...
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Guineo
Guineos (pronounced ) usually refers to an unripe banana. The term guineo is sometimes used in reference to its ripened counterpart: the yellow (ripened) banana. The word ''Guineo'' comes from Guinea, a country in West Africa, as it is one of the places from which bananas originate. Some make a distinction between the two and refer to green bananas as ''guineos verdes'' (green bananas) and yellow bananas as ''guineos'' (ripe bananas). Guineos are ''not'' to be confused with plantains, which are far starchier than the guineo and cannot be used in the same ways. Guineos are used widely in Latin American cooking as they are versatile, inexpensive, and filling. El Salvador Bananas, whether green or ripe, are called guineos in El Salvador. Guineos are a popular fruit in the country and are used for the popular dessert 'chocobanano', which is a frozen guineo covered in chocolate, sprinkles, or other toppings. Puerto Rico In Puerto Rico, green bananas are used in dishes such as ...
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Plantain (cooking)
Cooking bananas are banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking. They may be eaten ripe or unripe and are generally starchy. Many cooking bananas are referred to as plantains (/ˈplæntɪn/, /plænˈteɪn/, /ˈplɑːntɪn/) or green bananas. In botanical usage, the term "plantain" is used only for true plantains, while other starchy cultivars used for cooking are called "cooking bananas". True plantains are cultivars belonging to the AAB group, while cooking bananas are any cultivars belonging to AAB, AAA, ABB, or BBB groups. The currently accepted scientific name for all such cultivars in these groups is ''Musa'' × ''paradisiaca''. Fe'i bananas (''Musa'' × ''troglodytarum'') from the Pacific Islands are often eaten roasted or boiled, and are thus informally referred to as "mountain plantains," but they do not belong to any of the species from which all modern banana cultivars are descended. Cooking bananas are a major food staple in We ...
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Calabazas
Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish language for any type of winter squash. Within an English-language context it specifically refers to what is also known as the West Indian pumpkin, a winter squash typically grown in the West Indies, tropical America, and the Philippines. Calabaza is the common name for ''Cucurbita moschata'' in Cuba, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (where it is also spelled ''kalabasa''). ''C. moschata'' is also known as ''auyama'' in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; ''ayote'' in Central America; ''zapallo'' in certain countries of South America; and "pumpkin", "squash", or "calabash" in English-speaking islands. Etymology The French term ''calebasse'', and hence the English "calabash", is based on the older Spanish. Cultivars In North America, the Spanish word ''calabaza'' may refer to any of several species of squash of the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly used for cultivars of the species '' C. moschata'', whi ...
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Annatto
Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree ('' Bixa orellana''), native to tropical America. It is often used to impart a yellow or orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its flavor and aroma. Its scent is described as "slightly peppery with a hint of nutmeg" and flavor as "slightly nutty, sweet and peppery". The color of annatto comes from various carotenoid pigments, mainly bixin and norbixin, found in the reddish waxy coating of the seeds. The condiment is typically prepared by grinding the seeds to a powder or paste. Similar effects can be obtained by extracting some of the color and flavor principles from the seeds with hot water, oil, or lard, which are then added to the food. Annatto and its extracts are now widely used in an artisanal or industrial scale as a coloring agent in many processed food products, such as cheeses, dairy spreads, butter and margarine, custards, cakes and other baked good ...
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Xanthosoma
''Xanthosoma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae. The genus is native to tropical America but widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical regions. Several are grown for their starchy corms, an important food staple of tropical regions, known variously as ''malanga'', ''otoy'', ''otoe'', cocoyam (or new cocoyam), ''tannia'', ''tannier'', ''yautía'', ''macabo'', ''ocumo'', ''macal'', ''taioba'', ''dasheen'', ''quequisque'', ''ʻape'' and (in Papua New Guinea) as Singapore taro (''taro kongkong''). Many other species, including especially ''Xanthosoma roseum'', are used as ornamental plants; in popular horticultural literature these species may be known as ‘ape due to resemblance to the true Polynesian ʻape, ''Alocasia macrorrhizos'', or as elephant ear from visual resemblance of the leaf to an elephant's ear. Sometimes the latter name is also applied to members in the closely related genera ''Caladium'', ''Colocasia'' ( taro), and ''Alocasia ...
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