Sundays In My City - Trini Christmas (Part 1)

It's Christmas in Trinidad!

My favourite time of the year. I kid you not, there are some decorations that never come down because my husband (who may love Christmas even more than I do) tries to keep the Christmas Spirit alive in our house all year round...

There's so much tradition here that surrounds this time of the year. You get wrapped up in food and music and friends and family. Even though the seasons don't change for us... there's just something special in the air!

Pastelles and Ponche de Creme

No self-respecting Trini household can be without pastelles at Christmas. Because as soon as your guests walk through the door - it's the first thing they're looking for!

It's basically a small cornmeal pie, wrapped and steamed. The filling is cooked minced meat (beef, chicken or pork) mixed with capers and raisins and olives - or any variation you like. Wrap that all in a cornmeal "skin" and steam it. Keep it from drying out by steaming and storing wrapped in a banana leaf, and you can freeze these babies for months.

And to wash it all down - a nice glass of ponche-de-creme. Depending on whether you're a believer in the French or the Spanish origin of this yummy spiked egg-nog there are different variations on the name (punch-a-creme, punch-a-crema, punch-a-cream) but any way you say it, it means delicious!

My mother's aunt makes the best pastelles EVER! Don't even come try to test, cos you're going DOWN Bobby Flay Throwdown style! These are not hers, these are my darling husband's. Have I mentioned that he's the best cook and keeps our tummies nice and happy all year round? Oh yeh!

You start off with strip of banana leaf, and roll out the cornmeal mixture in the middle.

Spoon in your filling. It doesn't have to be meat, although it traditionally is.

Growing up I hated raisins in mine and used to pick them out. Now I LOVE them. Still not fond of the olives. :-(

Once your filling is in, fold one side of the banana leaf  over, so your cornmeal begins to make a little pocket for the filling. Kinda like a cornmeal envelope.



Do the same thing on the other 4 sides so the filling is totally enclosed in cornmeal.

 Wrap the entire pastel in the banana leaf and steam in a colander over a pot of boiling water. (Some people tie them with twine and boil them).

These accompany breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are BELOVED.

Next time around I'll tell you about our homemade wine and sorrel. But for now, I'll leave you with a local song telling you all about Christmas in Trinidad - Trini Christmas is D Best!

Okay one more... A favourite of mine. I absolutely love this song. Sung by Sharlene Flores (but not originally by her) it's called Burbujas de Amor, and it's on constant radio rotation during the holidays.

This is part of Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City. Go visit her and travel the world to visit Sundays in other cities!