Hidalgo, Mexico /
With a giant pastain the magical town of Mineral del Montethey prepare the celebrations for the 200 years since the arrival of this dishbrought by local miners and adopted by this municipality.
This saucer will measure four meters and It will have a weight of 180 kiloswill be distributed among the visitors of the 16th international paste festival a take place from October 11 to 13.
It was in 1824 that the first pastry was baked in Real del Monte. Mary Jenkins was the one who developed the so-called cornish pasty he which was filled with potato, leek, saffron, meat and raw fish.
With the passage of time and as they didn’t have all the ingredients was modified little by little until what we know in the present. Now the paste is smallertheir filling is potato and beans, and they are differentiated by the braiding.
Also over time there arise empanadasits dough is different from pastries, it is flaky and does not have a braid, the filling comes from stews that the housewives had like tinga, rajas con crema, green mole, red mole and rice pudding.
“It varies depending on the dough, the filling and the preparation.since the paste dough is a type of shortcrust pastry, for the salty empanada it is a semi-puff pastry and for the sweet one it’s a fondantexplained Mayra Torres, Chef of the Paste Museum.
With its modifications, but recognizing the potato one as the original paste, Today it is the economic support of families.
“It is a symbol for usthe paste represents support, economic aid, for many families in real del monte, Today many people live off this traditional dish gastronomic brought from England and the truth is that we are very pleased with this great celebration,” he stated. Jaime Sotoformer president of the Paste Regulatory Council.
Also former mayor of Mineral del Monte estimated that there are currently about 200 pasture houses distributed not only in Real del Monte, but also in municipalities in the interior of the state and in other cities such as Queretaro.
“The paste now are the new gold and silver bars that exploits real del monte, because it is the basis of the economy of our town. Thanks to this dish, real del monte has remained in the taste of so many visitors“added Rosa María Durán, from Pastes Márquez, with 44 years of tradition.
“It has been a way of life, It has been the livelihood of many families and thanks to those pastries, our children have been able to study a career, now the grandchildren are studying a career, but without leaving aside what has kept them alive and active within the making of the pastes.”
During the festival, he added, a documentary will be presented with the memories of the pastry houses.
“We are preparing a documentary which will be announced precisely on the days of the festival, to see the memories of all those people, we in my case can talk about 44 years ago or 45, but there are people in that documentary who are over 60, 70 years old, making the pastries and with the memories from who I taught them, from where they learned, then it will really be very interesting.”
Luis Fernando Escorzaa member of the Paste Regulatory Council, added that when the first festival began, the expectation was to gather between 10,000 and 15,000 people, “We are currently expecting 80 to 90 thousand people for this festival.”.
“The biggest cake in the world, At four meters and 180 kilos it is an impressive subjectit is something of a spectacle that they have to see, from the making that is done on the stage, the procession, to the baking and when he returns to the stage to be distributed to all people.”
M.O.
