Paches

Assembling the paches

Yesterday I learned one more traditional Guatemalan dish, Paches, or tamales de arroz. These tamales are a traditional Christmas treat, though they are definitely available throughout the rest of the year, however they are more reserved for special occassions.

This cooking lesson was led by my former teacher, Ana, a great cook with whom I've exchanged lots of recipes. Essentially our Spanish classes always seemed to morph into descriptions of our craziest kitchen exploits, favorite foods, market trips etc. It is thanks to her that I learned correct Spanish words for describing specific kinds of baking pans, stirring spoons, the difference between simmering and boiling and other details that might not emerge in most students' intermediate Spanish classes.

Paches can be made for the vegetarian, but to truly embrace this food, you must embrace a favorite ingredient of mine, bacon fat. Luckily, Ana's husband's aunt (aunt-in-law?) has pigs and sells fresh, fresh mantequa de cerdo. If you can't find lard/bacon fat or for some reason have ethical/health/religious objections to using it, you can substitute vegetable shortening. I asked if butter would work, and it will, but shortening is aparently better.

The other great thing about this recipe is that if you've mastered it, you've essentially mastered another classic Guatemalan dish, Pepian. The only difference between the sauce in this recipe and pepian is the addition of a lone chile.

I think I've decided that paches are definitely not my favorite Guatemalan food (my stomach is in accord on this one--perhaps all my years of pseudo-vegetarianism didn't quite prepare me for the meatiness of these tamales). However, they're a classic and everyone else seems to love them. This recipe makes about 30 large paches. Enough for a great fiesta. Give it a try and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/3 lb lard
2 lbs ground rice
3 oz. sesame seeds
3 oz. pumpkin seeds
1 chile guacaye (dry, spicy pepper)
1 chile pasa (dried bell pepper)
4 plum tomatoes
1 in. cinnamon stick
Salt to taste
Pinch of saffron
3 lbs chicken (or 2.5 if it's already de-boned, fileted etc.)
1 white bread roll (pan frances here)
2 red peppers, juliened
1/2 C. olives
1/2 C. dried plums
1/2 C. raisins
3 manojos de ojas de Maxam (roughly translates to three bundles of these big green leaves of the Maxam tree. You can subtitute banana leaves. In total about 50 leaves)

Directions
Bring 2-3 litres of water to boil in a very large pot and add lard.
Add the rice and saffron and stir constantly until rice is cooked through, adding heated water as needed. (The final consistency should be like cream of wheat). Season with salt (about 2 tbps) to taste while cooking. Set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds until lightly browned. In a pan, roast the tomatoes until browned on all sides and softened. Soak the bread in water until thoroughly moistened. Put the seeds, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, salt (about 1 tbsp) and 3/4 C. water in the blender and blend until smooth. Remove the sauce from the blender and add the bread and a little more water. Blend the bread to absorb all the remaining contents of the blender and add to the sauce. Season with additional salt if necessary. Clean and wash the chicken and cut into large-bite-sized pieces. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
To assemble the paches
Place one small leaf inside a larger leaf. Place about 3/4 cup of rice in the middle of the small leaf. Spoon the sauce and a piece of chicken over the center of the rice. Add one piece each of pepper, olive, plum and raisin to the rice and press in firmly. Roll the leaves up (hard to describe without demonstrating--fold up the two sides of the paches to meet in the middle and then roll these pieces together until they meet the rice. Then fold in the two ends so you have a nice tight package of rice. Repeat with the outer leaf). Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.

Cooking the paches

To cook the paches
Place a rack or pieces of maxam leaves on the bottom of a very large pot and cover with water. Fill the pot with the paches in concentric cirlces. Cover the top layer with a plastic bag, sealing in the sides to ensure that no vapor will escape. Trust me, the bag doesn't melt. This remains a mystery. Cook over medium heat for approximately 1.5 hours. The maxam leaves will turn a darker shade of green and when done, the cooked paches will sound hollow when tapped. Or, remove one, taste it, and decide if you think it's cooked through.

Tasting the paches

Buen Provecho!