About this dish
Cornmeal dough filled with seasoned meat, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, traditionally eaten at Christmas.
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Ingredients
🌽3 cups cornmeal
🥩300g ground beef
🫘1/4 cup raisins and olives
🍃Banana leaves, for wrapping
🧂Seasoning to taste
Method
Serves 21
Cook the ground beef with onion, garlic, and seasoning until well flavored.2
Mix cornmeal with warm water and a little oil into a soft dough.3
Spread a thin layer of dough onto a banana leaf, add a spoonful of the meat filling, and fold into a parcel.4
Steam the wrapped parcels for about 45 minutes until firm.5
Serve warm, unwrapped at the table.✓ What Makes it Authentic
Pastelles are a traditional Trinidadian Christmas dish, reflecting Venezuelan and Spanish culinary influence, similar to Latin American tamales.
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