300 Words

The “pastelito”, or in english “small cake” consists of fried dough stuffed with various meats, and sometimes sweets. My grandmother might as well be Gordon Ramsey in the flesh while making these. The first step of making a pastelito is to take the dough, roll it around, and beat it up a little in order to make the construction of the pastelito easier. In this instance, we will say my grandmother is making a cheese pastelito, nice and easy. She takes a block of cheese about the size of half a butter stick and places it onto the flattened dough; very much like the preparation of pizza the dough is a flat circle. Then, she folds the dough over the cheese into a shape resembling a croissant. After this step, she closes the dough by using a fork along the edges of the dough. Now she pours some cooking oil into a frying pan; a very shallow amount. Then she will place the pastelitos into the pan, using a spoon to scoop the cooking oil and pour it onto the pastelitos. The cheese melts during the frying process. Soon after, the lid of the pan goes on and my grandmother will take them out in five minutes when they’re golden brown. 

1000 Words

My childhood consisted of spending a majority of my time with my grandparents. They would pick me up each day right as the bell rang to get out of school. And almost every day after school everyone knew to find me behind the kitchen counter with my grandmother absolutely cooking up a storm. Even though my grandmother did most of the actual cooking and prepping, I was still there with her helping in any way I could. Everyday we would make the same exact thing, the “pastelito”. In English the word “pastelito” can be translated as “small cake”. The “pastelito” has been a hispanic cultural dish long before the days of my great grandparents. Curious about the origin of my favorite food, I asked my mother why we have continued to eat this cultural meal throughout our familial generations, and she answered: “Ever since even I was a kid our family has been making pastelitos. I can’t remember any holiday, cookout, or special event where no one cooked any pastelitos. It’s been a part of our family forever, and it’s always one of the better foods to eat”. Although these “pastelitos’ ‘ do not take long at all to actually cook, the preparation is intricate. The time that I got to spend with my grandmother was very special to me as she is a very busy woman. She owns her own hair salon so being able to have that quality time was beyond memorable. While talking to my mother about if she ever had the opportunity to make “pastelitos” with my grandmother (her mother), she hesitantly responded as I could hear the sadness in her voice: “I was able to cook with her every once in a while but she was super busy back then. With me and my sisters it was hard to have individual time with her, but when I had you and your brother she was already starting to retire and settle down. She really emphasized spending time with you guys since you’re her first grandkids, and I think that time with her kind of sparked your love for the food”. After hearing my moms response there was no way I could even deny those last few words she said. That time with my grandmother was something I cherished and enjoyed whole heartedly. Surely that has some significance for the “pastelito” being my favorite.

 Outlining this food with the simplest explanation requires me to describe “un pastelito de queso”, or a small cheesecake. As it sounds in English, it is nothing like what you would imagine to be on your plate. My grandmother, who is Gordon Ramsey in the flesh when it comes to cooking, would always begin with preparing the dough. Initially, she takes the dough, batters it, and flattens it so that it looks similar to that of a pizza. I recall this part vividly because I remember I would always see commercials for Little Caesars during the cartoons I would watch with my grandfather. The person on television would always use a rolling pin, but my grandmother never used a rolling pin. Her hardened chef hands had become durable enough throughout her time to prepare the dough without the use of a rolling pin. After the dough was nice and rolled and flattened my grandmother would get the cheese. We always used american cheese, or sometimes pepper jack. Often we would eat the spare slices of cheese together as we prepared the rest of the pastelitos. Multiple pieces of the cheese would then be placed on the dough. The next part was always my favorite to watch. The cheese slices sit in the middle of the dough, so my grandmother would fold the edges over the cheese to make a half circle type of shape. She seals her masterful creations by using a fork in order to push the two sides together on the edge. The speed at which my grandmother would fold and seal the pastelitos almost forced me to assume she had some sort of cooking superpowers. She would fold and seal at a speed to the point where I could no longer keep up with how many she had even made. After my grandmother’s display of her supernatural ability to fold and seal, she would baste the dough with butter using a butter brush. Then she sets the stove on high, throws on a frying pan, sprays it with cooking oil and tosses each one of her handcrafted pastelitos into the pan. The sizzling from the scorching pan left me behind the counter at all times while my grandmother basically washed her hands with the blistering oil. The lid goes on, and in exactly five minutes that sweet savory smell of butter, melted cheese, and fried dough comes rushing through my nose. The pastelitos come out of the pan and are placed onto the infamous napkin plate to be devoured. 

Throughout my years of living I have had the privilege of trying “pastelitos” from various places. I have gone to all kinds of Spanish restaurants, bodegas, friends and families homes, all over just to try one specific cuisine, but none could ever compare to my grandmother. Even my mother had to admit: “The love and effort your grandmother puts into her cooking can’t be matched by anyone else in the family. She puts her personality into everything she does; that’s definitely why her’s are so unique. Whenever you and your brother ask her to make some [pastelitos] she’s always more than happy to get it done for you”. My grandmother may not hold any Michelin stars under her name, but she certainly knows how to cook some traditional Spanish food. Throughout previous visits, current visits, and future visits to my abuela’s house, she will, and always will be nothing more than excited and joyous to start prepping some “pastelitos” for me; for that, the pastelito will forever be my favorite homemade meal, because no one cooks with as much love and effort as my abuela. 

Final

El Pastelito

My childhood consisted of spending a majority of my time with my grandparents. Each day they would pick me up right as the bell rang for dismissal, and almost every day after school everyone knew to find me behind the kitchen counter with my grandmother absolutely cooking up a storm. Even though my grandmother did most of the actual cooking and prepping, I was still there with her helping in any way I was able to. Everyday we would make the same exact meal, the “pastelito”. In English the word “pastelito” can be translated as “small cake”. The “pastelito” has been a hispanic cultural dish long before the days of my great grandparents. As I was curious about the origin of my favorite food, I asked my mother why we have continued to eat this cultural dish throughout our familial generations. My mother answered: “Ever since even I was a kid our family has been making pastelitos. I can’t remember any holiday, cookout, or special event where no one cooked any pastelitos. It’s been a part of our family forever, and it’s always one of the better foods to eat”. Although these “pastelitos’ ‘ do not take long at all to actually cook, the preparation is intricate. The time that I got to spend with my grandmother was very special to me because she is a very busy woman. She owns her own hair salon so being able to spend that quality time with her was beyond memorable. While I was talking with my mother regarding if she ever had the opportunity to cook “pastelitos” with my grandmother (her mother), she hesitantly responded as I could hear the sadness in her voice: “I was able to cook with her every once in a while but she was super busy back then. With me and my sisters it was hard to have individual time with her, but when I had you and your brother she was already starting to retire and settle down. She really emphasized spending time with you guys since you’re her first grandkids, and I think that time with her kind of sparked your love for the food”. After hearing my mother’s response there was no way I could even deny those last few words she said. That time spent with my grandmother was something I cherished and enjoyed whole heartedly, shaping my love for the pastelito.

 Outlining this food with the simplest explanation requires me to offer a description of “un pastelito de queso”, or in the American tongue, a small cheesecake. As it sounds in English, it is nothing like what you would imagine to be on your plate. My grandmother, who turns into Gordon Ramsey when it comes to cooking, would always begin with preparing the dough. Initially, she takes the dough, batters it, and rolls it out so that it looks similar to that of a pizza. I recall this part vividly because I remember always seeing commercials for Little Caesars that came on during the cartoons I watched with my grandfather. The people in the commercials would always use a rolling pin, but my grandmother never used a rolling pin. Her hardened chef hands had become durable enough throughout her cooking experiences to prepare the dough without the use of a rolling pin. After the dough was nice and rolled and flattened my grandmother would get the cheese. American cheese was always the preference, but sometimes pepper jack would sneak in there as well. Usually during this part we would eat the spare slices of cheese together as we prepared the rest of the pastelitos. Multiple pieces of the cheese would then be meticulously placed on the dough. The cheese slices sit in the middle of the dough, so my grandmother would fold the edges over the cheese to make a half circle type of shape. She seals her masterful creations by using a fork in order to push the two sides together on the edge. How quickly my grandmother would fold and seal the pastelitos almost forced me to assume she had some sort of cooking superpowers. She would do this part at a speed to the point where I could no longer keep up with how many pastelitos she had even made. Then, after my grandmother’s display of her supernatural ability to fold and seal, she would baste the dough with butter using a butter brush. Then she sets the stove on high, throws on a frying pan, sprays it with cooking oil and tosses each one of her handcrafted pastelitos into the pan. The sizzling from the scorching pan left me behind the counter at all times while my grandmother basically washed her hands with the blistering oil. Soon after, the lid goes on, and in exactly five minutes that sweet savory smell of butter, melted cheese, and crispy fried dough comes rushing through my nose. Finally, The pastelitos come out of the pan and are placed onto the infamous napkin plate to be devoured. 

In my years of living I have had the privilege of trying “pastelitos” from various places. I have gone to Spanish restaurants, bodegas (Spanish corner stores), friends and families homes, all over just to try one specific dish; except, none could ever compare to my grandmother. My mother even had to admit: “The love and effort your grandmother puts into her cooking can’t be matched by anyone else in the family. She puts her personality into everything she does; that’s definitely why her’s are so unique. Whenever you and your brother ask her to make some [pastelitos] she’s always more than happy to get it done for you”. My grandmother may not hold any Michelin stars under her name, but she certainly knows how to throw down some traditional Spanish food. Throughout previous visits, current visits, and future visits to my abuela’s house, she will, and always will be nothing more than excited and joyous to start prepping some “pastelitos” for me; for that, the pastelito will forever be my favorite homemade meal, because no one cooks with as much love and effort as my abuela.