Week 26 - Desayuno - Aruba

PASTECHI

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that before researching this breakfast all I knew about Aruba was that it was in the Caribbean somewhere and featured prominently in the Beach Boy song Kokomo.  I now know that Aruba is off the Venezuelan coast, is part of the kingdom of the Netherlands (sorry no Hagelslag to be found), and has an utterly delicious breakfast treat - the Pastechi.

Pastechi can be found all over Aruba as a roadside breakfast snack (like Canada's Timbits), and have a few variations.  You can enjoy the Pastechi di Keshi (with Cheese), the Pastechi di Pisca (with Seafood) or the Pastechi di Carni (with Beef, spices and often, the dreaded raisin).  I felt like I'd put Jon through quite enough in the last couple of breakfasts, so I settled on the Pastechi di Keshi.

Pastechi are really just another variation on the world's most common handfood - the turnover.  When you think about it everybody has some variation on the handy dough pocket filled with delicious goods:  Eastern Europe has perogies, Asia has Mandu/Gyoza/Dumplings, South America has Empanadas, India has Samosas, etc.  So Aruba and some of the neighbouring islands have Pastechi, a light pie-like pastry that is filled and deep-fried.

And since Aruba has a large Dutch influence, what other cheese is used but Gouda (preferably smoked).  I haven't had a lot of Gouda experience, so was very happy to discover that I loved it.  It was creamy, salty and just perfectly.... cheesy.

The whole Pastechi package together was very satisfying.  I was scared the deepfrying might make the dough stodgy but in fact they were light and delightfully crispy (though the cheese did tend to escape).  And they certainly were "addictive" as I read on other web-sites.

The Verdict:

For Ease of Preparation:

Deep-frying first thing in the morning is always a little scary.

For Degree of Separation:

For Guestability:

I think that I would only make this again for guests.  Too much work for just two people, but they would be a hit with company.  Who doesn't love deep-fried cheese?

For Sustainability:

We certainly were full, in a, "Oh my goodness, did we really just eat that entire tray?" kind of way.

I'd like to take a moment to introduce a new category in The Verdict, "Costability".  This is a simple rating of how pricey the breakfast was to make.  Please keep in mind that this is very subjective to my location and certain ingredients may be cheaper/more expensive where you are.  I've decided to include this because I've found vast differences in the grocery costs and I think it's really interesting.  For example, Japanese breakfast at over $60 (!) was by far one of the most expensive, while Ethiopian at well under $5 was the cheapest.

Costability:

A relatively inexpensive breakfast.  The turnover itself used simple ingredients I had available in my pantry.  Gouda was the only item I needed to purchase.

Overall Appeal:

I'm always super excited when a previously unknown food turns out to be the bee's knees!  Pastechi you were a great find.

For something altogether different, next time we check out breakfast in Iran....