Pan con pavo

Ingredients

The turkey

• 1.5 kgturkey pieces
• thighs and breast on the bone
• salt and pepper
• oil, to brown

The relajo

• 4dried guajillo chillies
• 2dried pasilla chillies
• 3 tablespoonssesame seeds
• 3 tablespoonspumpkin seeds
• 1 teaspooncumin seed
• 1 teaspoonoregano
• 2bay leaves
• 4cloves
• 1 stickcinnamon

The sauce

• 6tomatoes
• 2onions, quartered
• 6garlic cloves
• 500 mlstock
• salt

To assemble

• 6crusty rolls
• or French bread
• watercress or lettuce
• sliced cucumber
• sliced radish
• pickled vegetables

Directions

1. Toast each element separately. Seeds burn while chillies are still soft. Take them off early rather than late. Stir them constantly and take them off golden. They toast in about three minutes.
2. Heat a dry heavy pan over medium heat. Tear them open and shake out the seeds. Leave some in if you want more heat. Press the chillies into the hot pan. Give them about twenty seconds a side. Take them out at exactly that point. Cover the toasted chillies with hot water.
3. Let them soak for twenty minutes. Keep all of the soaking water. Toast the sesame seeds in the dry pan. Stir them constantly throughout. Take them off when they are golden. Sesame takes about three minutes.
4. Tip it out at once to stop it. Toast the pumpkin seeds the same way. Use a lid or a splatter guard. They are done when they stop popping. Toast the cumin, cloves and cinnamon. Give them about one full minute. Grind all the toasted seeds and spices. Grind them to a very fine powder.
5. Season the turkey pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large heavy pot. Brown the turkey on all sides. Work in batches rather than crowding. Do it in a dry pan or under a grill. Let them blacken in dark patches. Do not burn them entirely though.
6. Put the soaked chillies in a blender. Add all the charred vegetables. Add the ground spice mixture in. Add some of the chilli soaking water. Blend it to a completely smooth sauce.
7. Blend it far longer than seems needed. Add liquid as needed to keep it turning. Chilli skins do not blend fully. Press it through with a spoon. Pour the sauce into the pot with the turkey. Let it fry for about five minutes. Stir it so that it does not catch. Add all of the stock to the pot.
8. Season the whole pot with salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cover it and then let it cook. Give it about ninety full minutes. Pull at the meat with a fork tine. It should come away quite easily. Cook it on if it still resists. Lift the turkey out and let it cool a little.
9. Pull all the meat off the bones. Shred it into large loose pieces. Leave it in substantial pieces. Let the sauce simmer uncovered. Reduce it until it coats a spoon. It should be thick enough to cling. Stir the shredded turkey back into the sauce. Let it all warm through in it. Dip the cut sides in the sauce.
10. Dip it rather than just spooning sauce in. Pile the saucy turkey into the roll. Add the watercress and the salad. Add cucumber and radish slices. Add the pickled vegetables too. Serving it is always done immediately. Assemble every sandwich fresh.

Technique

• Toast every element of the relajo separately, since they toast at very different rates and seeds burn while chillies are still soft. Dried chillies take about twenty seconds a side and should smell fragrant and soften without darkening badly — burnt chilli is bitter, that bitterness cannot be fixed, and it affects the whole sauce.
• Sesame and pumpkin seeds burn readily and go from golden to black fast, so stir constantly and tip them out the moment they are done. Pumpkin seeds puff and jump out of the pan, so use a lid or splatter guard, and they are done when they stop popping.
• It is a wet sandwich by design: the cut sides of the bread are dipped in the sauce rather than just having sauce spooned in, and that is characteristic rather than a fault. Reduce the sauce until it coats a spoon but stays loose enough to soak the bread.

Substitutions

• The atlas also carries panes con pollo, the same construction with chicken; turkey is the Christmas version and chicken the everyday and fundraiser one, and the method is essentially the same.
• Relajo is sold ready mixed in Salvadoran markets as well as made at home.

Variations

• Char the tomatoes, onions and garlic in a dry pan or under a grill until blackened in patches, which gives the smoky depth standard in this kind of sauce.
• Strain the blended sauce, since chilli skins do not blend fully, then fry it for five minutes in the pot, which deepens the flavour, darkens the colour and cooks out any raw chilli taste.
• Shred the turkey into large substantial pieces, since finely shredded meat disappears into the sauce.

History

A Christmas and street-fair sandwich; the relajo spice mix of dried chiles, sesame and pumpkin seed is a Salvadoran signature.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pan con pavo?

Pan con pavo is a street food from El Salvador: turkey braised in dark relajo sauce, piled into crusty bread with salad. A Christmas and street-fair sandwich; the relajo spice mix of dried chiles, sesame and pumpkin seed is a Salvadoran signature.

How long does Pan con pavo take to make?

Pan con pavo takes 40 minutes of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pan con pavo?

Yes, within limits. The atlas also carries panes con pollo, the same construction with chicken; turkey is the Christmas version and chicken the everyday and fundraiser one, and the method is essentially the same. Relajo is sold ready mixed in Salvadoran markets as well as made at home.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pan con pavo?

Toast each element separately. Seeds burn while chillies are still soft. Take them off early rather than late. Stir them constantly and take them off golden. They toast in about three minutes.