What you see here is called Pastelitos. This dish can be found in many hispanic restaurants. Pastelitos are also a traditional food for many Latin American festivals and events. This food has been eaten by the Tainos and Native American culture for years. Originally its dough was made out of plantains or raw yams. The filling for the pastelito is traditionally made from pork, but I have used beef here. I seasoned the meat to bring out the flavor of the dish as the pastel doesn’t really have a taste to me. As a kid there was a street in my neighborhood that everyone called “Harlem”. The street was filled with many Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. One older Hispanic women who lived on the street sold candy, french fries, slushies and many other foods out of her home. The best thing out of everything she sold was her homemade pastelitos. The corner store in our complex was super expensive so we didn’t eat much out of there, plus as kids we couldn’t afford it. The pizza shop was also expensive so when we ate outside of the home, we went to the “candy lady”. One day I seen some kids playing and they were eating pastiletos. I wanted one so bad because it looked delicious and she told me where I could get them. This Hispanic women barely spoke English but she knew enough to get us what we needed and we really appreciated her for that.