Pastel

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 3 tbspcachaça or vodka
• 2 tbspoil
• about 200 ml warm water

Cheese filling

• 400 gqueijo muçarela or a firm melting cheese, grated
• 1 tspdried oregano

Beef filling

• 400 gminced beef
• 1onion, chopped
• 2 clovesgarlic
• 2tomatoes, chopped
• green olives, chopped
• 1hard-boiled egg, chopped
• 1 tsppaprika
• salt and pepper

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• caldo de cana, sugarcane juice
• pimenta sauce

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt, then work in the cachaça, oil and warm water into a firm dough. It evaporates violently in the hot oil, which is what raises the surface into blisters, and it also stops the dough absorbing fat.
2. Knead the dough hard for 10 minutes until very smooth and elastic. Knead it properly, because it has to be rolled far thinner than seems possible. Wrap it and rest it 30 minutes. Meanwhile cook the beef filling: fry the onion and garlic, add the mince and cook until browned and dry.
3. Add the tomatoes, paprika and seasoning and cook until there is no liquid left at all. Cook the filling completely dry and cool it fully. Stir in the olives and chopped egg once cooled.
4. Roll the dough out as thinly as you possibly can, ideally through a pasta machine on its thinnest setting. Roll it near-transparent. A thick pastel is doughy and heavy, and the point is a shell so thin it shatters.
5. Cut rectangles of about 12 by 16 cm. Put a line of filling down one half, leaving a clear 2 cm border all round. Do not overfill. Brush the border with water and fold the dough over. Press the edges firmly and seal them with a fork or a fluted cutter.
6. Press out every bit of trapped air as you seal. Air pockets expand and split the pastel, and molten cheese in hot oil is dangerous. Heat the oil to 190°C (375°F), which is hotter than for most frying.
7. Fry one or two at a time, spooning hot oil over the surface as they cook. Basting the top with hot oil is what makes the surface bubble up and blister, and it is what the pastelaria cooks do. Fry 2 to 3 minutes a side until deep golden and covered in blisters. Drain on a rack and eat immediately, while the shell still cracks.

Technique

• Ready-made pastel dough sheets are sold frozen in Brazil and are what most households use.
• Sweet versions filled with banana, chocolate or guava are common.
• They must be eaten within minutes and never reheat well.

Substitutions

• Vodka or any neutral spirit in place of cachaça.
• Ready-rolled pastel or spring roll wrappers, doubled.

Variations

• Pastel de carne, de queijo, de palmito or de camarão.
• Sweet, with banana and cinnamon or chocolate.
• Pastel de feira, made extra large.

History

Deep-fried thin pastry sold at street markets; Japanese immigrant families popularised the pastelaria trade in Sao Paulo from the 1940s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pastel?

Pastel is a street food from Brazil: crackly fried pastry envelopes of cheese or beef, with sugarcane juice. Deep-fried thin pastry sold at street markets; Japanese immigrant families popularised the pastelaria trade in Sao Paulo from the 1940s.

How long does Pastel take to make?

Pastel takes 40 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pastel?

Yes, within limits. Vodka or any neutral spirit in place of cachaça. Ready-rolled pastel or spring roll wrappers, doubled.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pastel?

Roll the dough out as thinly as you possibly can, ideally through a pasta machine on its thinnest setting. Roll it near-transparent. A thick pastel is doughy and heavy, and the point is a shell so thin it shatters.