Pache

Ingredients

Potato dough

• 2 kgfloury potatoes
• 150 glard
• 2 tspsalt
• 3 tbsprice flour, if needed

Red sauce

• 6dried guajillo chillies
• 3dried pasilla chillies
• 4tomatoes
• 2tomatillos
• 1onion
• 4garlic cloves
• 50 gpumpkin seeds
• 30 gsesame seeds
• 1 sliceof stale bread
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 2whole cloves
• salt

Filling

• 800 gpork shoulder, in chunks
• salt

To wrap

• banana leaves, cut into large rectangles
• strips of leaf or string, for tying

Equipment

• a very large pot with a rack

Directions

1. Put the pork chunks in a pot with water to cover and salt. Bring it to a simmer and skim the foam. Simmer it for about an hour until tender. Lift the meat out and keep the broth. Shred or cut the pork into large pieces. Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan for thirty seconds a side. They should soften and smell fragrant but must not blacken.
2. Soak them in hot water for twenty minutes. Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic in a dry pan. Turn them until blackened in patches and softened. This takes about ten minutes over a medium-high heat. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan until they puff and pop. Toast the sesame seeds for two minutes. Toast the slice of bread until dry and golden. Let everything cool before grinding.
3. Put the drained chillies and charred vegetables in a blender. Add the toasted seeds, the bread, the cinnamon and cloves. Add a ladleful of the pork broth. Blend it until completely smooth. Press it through with the back of a ladle. Discard the skins and fibre left behind.
4. Fry the strained sauce in a little lard for ten minutes. Stir it constantly, since it spits. Season it with salt and let it cool. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins until completely soft. Boiling them in their skins stops them taking on water. Drain them and peel them while hot. Mash them thoroughly, or pass them through a ricer.
5. Beat the lard until it is pale and fluffy. Add the mashed potato gradually while beating. Beat the salt into the dough as well. Keep beating until the dough is smooth and slightly airy. It should be thick enough to spread without running. Cut them into rectangles of about thirty centimetres. Assembling them takes a rhythm.
6. Lay two leaves overlapping, shiny side up. Spread a thick layer of potato dough in the centre. Make it about twelve centimetres square. Lay pieces of pork on the dough. Spoon red sauce generously over the pork. Wrapping them must be done securely. Fold the two long sides of the leaf over the filling.
7. Fold the two ends up and tuck them under. The parcel should be closed on all sides. Tie it firmly with a strip of leaf or with string. Steaming them takes a couple of hours. Line the base of a large pot with spare leaves. Set a rack above a few centimetres of water. Stack the parcels on the rack.
8. Cover the pot tightly and bring the water to a boil. Steam them for a full two hours. Check the water every forty minutes and top it up with boiling water. Checking they are done takes one opened parcel.
9. Take one out and let it rest for ten minutes. Open it: the dough should be firm and should hold together. Return the rest for another twenty minutes if it is still soft. Serving them is done hot in their leaves. Let them rest for ten minutes before serving. That rest is what lets them firm up enough to eat. Serve them still wrapped and let each person open their own.

Technique

• Boil the potatoes in their skins so they do not take on water and loosen the dough.
• Strain the blended sauce, or gritty chilli skins end up in the tamal.
• Rest them ten minutes after steaming, which is what lets them firm up.

Substitutions

• Vegetable shortening in place of lard.
• Chicken in place of pork, which some cooks use.

Variations

• Made with chicken instead of pork.
• With an olive and a caper added to each parcel.
• Made spicier, with a hotter chilli in the sauce.

History

A Quetzaltenango speciality traditionally eaten on Thursdays, when families buy them by the leaf-wrapped dozen.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pache?

Pache is a main from Guatemala: tamal made of potato rather than corn, filled with pork in red sauce. A Quetzaltenango speciality traditionally eaten on Thursdays, when families buy them by the leaf-wrapped dozen.

How long does Pache take to make?

Pache takes 1 hour 30 min of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes 12 tamales. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pache?

Yes, within limits. Vegetable shortening in place of lard. Chicken in place of pork, which some cooks use.

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

Put the pork chunks in a pot with water to cover and salt. Bring it to a simmer and skim the foam. Simmer it for about an hour until tender. Lift the meat out and keep the broth. Shred or cut the pork into large pieces. Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan for thirty seconds a side. They should soften and smell fragrant but must not blacken.