Patí

Ingredients

Pastry

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspturmeric, or 1 tbsp annatto powder
• 250 gcold butter or lard, diced
• 150 mliced water
• 1 tspvinegar

Filling

• 600 gminced beef
• 2 tbspoil
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1red pepper, finely chopped
• 2habanero or panameño chillies, finely chopped
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspground cumin
• 2spring onions, sliced
• 100 mlbeef stock
• 3 tbspbreadcrumbs
• salt and black pepper

To glaze

• 1egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Put the flour, salt and turmeric in a large bowl and whisk them. Add the cold diced butter to it. Rub it in with your fingertips. Stop while there are still visible pieces of butter the size of peas.
2. Mix the iced water with the vinegar. Add it gradually, cutting it in with a knife. Stop as soon as it comes together in a rough mass. Wrap it and chill it for at least an hour. Making the filling is done while the pastry chills. Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook them for eight minutes.
3. Add the garlic, red pepper and chopped chillies. Cook them for about three minutes. Adding the beef takes a hot pan. Add the minced beef and break it up thoroughly. Cook it for ten minutes until well browned. Stir in the tomato paste and cook it for two minutes. Add the thyme, allspice and cumin.
4. Season it well with salt and black pepper. Getting the filling dry enough is the critical point. Pour in the stock and let it simmer. Cook it until almost all the liquid has gone. Stir in the breadcrumbs, which absorb the last of the moisture. The filling must be moist but not wet. Stir in the spring onions off the heat. Let it cool completely before it goes near the pastry.
5. Warm filling melts the butter in the dough. Roll the chilled pastry out to about three millimetres thick. Cut circles of about fourteen centimetres. Filling and sealing them takes care. Put a heaped tablespoon of cold filling on one half of each circle. Leave a clear border of about two centimetres.
6. Brush that border with a little water. Fold the pastry over into a half-moon. Press the edges together firmly with your fingers. Press the sealed edge with a fork all the way along. Baking them is done in a hot oven.
7. Heat the oven to 200C in good time. Lay the patties on lined baking trays. Brush them with the egg and milk glaze. Cut a small slit in the top of each one. Bake them for twenty-five to thirty minutes. They should be deep golden and firm. Let them cool for ten minutes before eating. The filling is extremely hot straight from the oven.

Technique

• Leave visible pieces of butter in the pastry, which is what makes it flaky.
• Cook the filling until almost dry and add breadcrumbs, or the pastry goes soggy.
• Cut a vent in the top so steam escapes instead of bursting the seam.

Substitutions

• Habanero in place of the local panameño chilli.
• Annatto in place of turmeric for the pastry colour.

Variations

• Made with chicken instead of beef.
• Made milder, with less chilli.
• Fried rather than baked, which some vendors do.

History

Spicy meat turnover of Limon, a direct descendant of the Jamaican patty carried by Afro-Caribbean migrants to the Atlantic coast.

Frequently asked questions

What is Patí?

Patí is a street food from Costa Rica: spiced beef pastry from Caribbean Limón province. Spicy meat turnover of Limon, a direct descendant of the Jamaican patty carried by Afro-Caribbean migrants to the Atlantic coast.

How long does Patí take to make?

Patí takes 1 hour plus 1 hour chilling of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 patties. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Patí?

Yes, within limits. Habanero in place of the local panameño chilli. Annatto in place of turmeric for the pastry colour.

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

Season it well with salt and black pepper. Getting the filling dry enough is the critical point. Pour in the stock and let it simmer. Cook it until almost all the liquid has gone. Stir in the breadcrumbs, which absorb the last of the moisture. The filling must be moist but not wet. Stir in the spring onions off the heat. Let it cool completely before it goes near the pastry.