COOK BEFORE SERVING

Pasteles (pronounced “Pah-teh-leh”; “S” is silent) The masa, or the dough, is typically made of grated green banana, yautia, green plantain, and calabazas. This dough is filled with a meat stew, typically containing some combination of pork, ham, achiote oil, onion, cilantro, tomato sauce, garbanzo beans, olives, and pimentos. The dough and meat filling are wrapped up in a banana leaf and tied with string, then cooked in boiling water. Alternatively, they can be frozen at this point for later use. When cooked, the banana leaf is unwrapped and the delicious cooked dough filled with meat is eaten.