Guanimes are a prepared food that can be traced back to the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

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 ...

Origin

Guanimes are related to

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. Tamale ...

and

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 bee ...

s. Cornmeal

masa ''Masa'' (or ''masa de maíz'') (; ) is a maize dough that comes from ground nixtamalized corn. It is used for making corn tortillas, '' gorditas'', ''tamales'', '' pupusas'', and many other Latin American dishes. It is dried and powdered into ...

is wrapped in corn husk stuffed with meat, nuts, fish, beans, or nothing at all. They are then boiled like tamales and hallacas.

Taíno The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...

s in Puerto Rico also mashed a variety of

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

s and

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

into the cornmeal masa. This later became the modern day ''

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, ...

''.

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. ''Guanimes dulces'' are sweet and prepared with sweet plantains, cornmeal, milk, coconut milk, raisins, vanilla, anise seeds, honey or molasses. There is also a

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

version known as ''Rusiao de yuca'' and are steamed on a grill.

References

Puerto Rican cuisine Stuffed dishes {{cuisine-stub

Origin

Modern Puerto Rico

See also

References