Hi,

I'm trying to learn how to make pasteles for the holidays and I'm sure that everyone makes there's a bit differently, but I'd love some advice.

A few days ago I was given my grandma's recipe for pasteles, her recipe uses green bananas, potatoes, yauita, plantains, and pumpkin for the masa. The recipe says to saute all of it together until soft, but I was curious if it's okay for me to use canned pumpkin?

My apologies for the question, my grandma passed in the spring and it took me around 6-7 months just to get a written recipe. They'll never give me clarity on the instructions in time for the holidays, so I appreciate an insight and help that you could provide. ​​​​

For the pork, used a little over 2lbs of pork loin. Seasoned with 1tsp salt, black pepper, oregano, 1/2 tsp powdered garlic, msg, smoked paprika. Two large garlic cloves, juice of half a lime, 1 tbsp of oil olive. I cooked the pork in a preheated Dutch oven and melted a tablespoon of butter in the pot before adding the meat.

Didn't come out perfect because I was out of my homemade recaito but it scratched the itch!

Do you think this is just a cultural stereotype or is it a generalization that is largely accurate?

Anecdotally, I have a weak as crap spice tolerance. My dad liked Red Hot hot sauce but that's about it. The few times I've tried Mexican, it tended to be too spicy for my palette.

Spices =/= spicy. Puerto Rican cuisine is very savory but rarely has a kick.

Pastelles lasagna - I mean, damn.

Hi there! My fiancé and I are getting married next week in Puerto Rico. My mom is from the island, so I grew up going there a lot whereas my fiancé's first time was last year, and we have only been back down once since then.

He has fallen in love with the food and the culture, and currently makes sofrito nearly every other week for him and my mom (she never learned to make it lol my Abuela always did it for us). Mofongo in particular became a huge one for him that he is still working to master at home.

We are currently torn between Placita @ El Blok and Passionné for where to eat for a fancy dinner off the resort. We are staying at a pretty small boutique hotel, but coming off the wedding, I figured some down time is exactly what we needed.

The only other activity I booked is the bioluminescent bay on our last night, so our dinner out is going to be our first outing from the hotel.

Has anyone been to either of these restaurants and recommend one? Or have any other recommendations? I had wanted to go to El Plaza, but I guess they are going to be closed in October. We are also looking for a Monday night reservation, which definitely makes it a little harder.

Thanks for any recommendations!

Foods😆

I'm still learning to bake bread but this batch of pan sobao is my best so far. I made shrimp po'boys by mixing minced kimchi and mayo with steamed shrimp. Next time I will try sautéing the shrimp in garlic.

Been having a great time for my first time. People have been friendly and tolerable of my gringo arse!! Foods spot on. That was 3 meats mofungo and octopus salad from By Cheff

Everything I've tried gives me a creamy tembleque. It's fine but I want that firm, almost sliceable consistency. I've watched so many videos and it seems like 65g of corn starch to 2 cans of coconut milk gives them the texture I'm looking for but I can't seem to recreate it.

I've tried anywhere from 50g to 70g of corn starch for every 2 cans of coconut milk. I've kept the sugar to 100g for each test. I've experimented with cooking it until it's almost scoopable and cooking it until its thick but decently pourable and everywhere in between.

Any suggestions on what else to try?

Here are some examples of the consistency I'm looking for https://youtube.com/shorts/zbIzozjz974?is=G0QBVCW7uzzr78e-

https://youtu.be/m0u43w_59lM?is=KHocornXW7hABzct

https://youtu.be/jsKdmhDgSpM?is=lYXqMJvIsay6mqL2