Aaron Dorman
HOBART -- Thanksgiving in the lower 48 means turkey time. But in Puerto Rico, this week, while no less festive, is the season for pork pasteles.
And if you live in NWI, you don't have to travel a thousand miles south to find them (although escaping to the Caribbean sounds like a really nice idea this time of year). In celebration of the holidays, the Caribbean on Lake George is making pasteles in small batches through the end of the year.
"In Mexico they make tamales," restaurant owner Luis Casiano said. "We make pasteles."
Pasteles, Casiano explained, are pork-filled pastries whose outer 'breading' is made from a mix of mashed bananas, plaintains, and yucca, called masa.
They're wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled; unlike tamales, which often come in the corn husk wrapping, the pasteles I had at the Caribbean on Lake George were just the masa squares.
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Pasteles' outer layers are a good deal darker, and less dry, than Mexican corn-based masa. Although that makes it less of a finger food, I also appreciated that, unlike a lot of tamales, the filling (pork and olives) didn't squeeze out.
The pasteles, Casiano explained, are something you're liable to see being cooked as part of a traditional family holiday meal; the café also serves a number of appetizers that might be considered Puerto-Rican street food, known as "las frituras."
That includes Puerto Rican yucca fries, empanadas, pastelillos, alcapurrias and fried codfish.
Casiano's café is a funky little place. Casiano said he envisions it as a "(Puerto Rican) speakeasy," where a somewhat older-than-usual crowd can enjoy some authentic snacks and cocktails.
There's no password required to get in, but this vibrant Latin interior is certainly hiding behind a façade. The vintage exterior is laced with exposed beams and looks like something out of a Renaissance fair. The restaurant itself is only open three days a week, 5 to 9, so you do have to catch them at the right time, particularly for a limited-edition meal like pasteles.
"We'll make them fresh," Casiano said of the pasteles. "Then once they're gone, they're gone. We sold our first batch out quickly. That's a good thing, but now I gotta make more! The process starts again."
In addition to the pasteles, The Caribbean on Lake George is serving a specialty "coquito suave" martini, which is sort of like Puerto Rican eggnog (except with rum and vodka). At some point next month, the café will also host a traditional parranda, a Puerto Rican Christmas celebration where people sing and play the guitar, along with maracas and "some other crazy stuff," Casiano said.
Somehow, Hobart has become a hub for Caribbean cuisine. I visited Tania's around the corner over the summer, as well as Café 339, which dabbles in "Grecan" Greek/Puerto Rican fusion. There's also a Jamaican café, Montego Bay Grill.
Casiano wasn't sure why or how Caribbean restaurants came to cluster the downtown area, although he said there was a vibrant Latino community in NWI. Expanding to Chicagoland overall, the Puerto Rican community has made its mark on the food scene, most notable for the region specialty, the jibarito, which you are more likely to find in Chicago and Indiana than in the islands.
The holiday specialties are intended to help make the restaurant stand out, but for Casiano, who opened his café just after the pandemic, the goal is simple: give people a great meal.
"I'm trying to introduce the foods, the culture (of Puerto Rico) here," Casiano said. "I love to see people eat and have a good time. So far no complaints!"
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Food Scene Reporter
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