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LOCAL Saturday 14 december 2024

A quick snack for the road: Learn how to make the Aruban Pastechi!

(Oranjestad)—If you ever and add all the dry ingredi- the average thinness would
been to Aruba before, ents before giving it a quick be around ¼ inch or so.
you probably heard of mix. Next add the butter,
(and even tried) the Aru- water and egg and mix Filling for the pastechis var-
ban Pastechi. Beloved by until thoroughly combined. ies according to your taste.
young and old, this tasty At this point, your dough The easiest and most com-
treat is a staple for party will start to get sticky; time mon filling you’ll find in Aru-
snacks, a quick lunch or for an arm workout. Knead ba is a simple cheese fill-
even breakfast! your dough into the bowl ing. For this, we usually use
you are using or on a clean shredded Gouda, but feel
Here’s how to make the surface with some flour free to use any cheese that
Pastechi dough. lightly dusted until its sur- melts well when frying the
face is smooth. You'll know pastry.
Ingredients: your dough is ready when it
4 cups of wheat flour doesn’t stick to your hands Place the filling on your
1 tbsp baking powder (if or the surface on which rolled out piece of dough, tip is to place a piece of the day, but it has be-
using self-rising flour, omit you’re kneading it. Let your fold it in half and pinch the wax paper in between come almost tradition to
baking powder) dough rest covered for 15- sides shut with a fork. If you each pastechi if you are eat pastechis for breakfast
1 tsp salt 20 minutes. have a folding tool, feel to store them on top of on the way to work. Many
1 tbsp sugar free to use it for this pro- one another. This way the roadside snack trucks sell
0.5 cup of melted butter After resting, divide your cess. Your pastechi is ready pastechis don’t stick to pastechi from early morn-
1 cup water dough into approximately for the fryer! each other when defrost- ing to noon, and offer a va-
1 egg 100 gram balls and roll it ing. riety of fillings like cheese;
flat with a rolling pin. The If you want to store some ham and cheese; ground
Directions: thickness of the pastechi pastechis for later use, you Here in Aruba we enjoy beef and pulled chicken to
Sift your flour into a bowl depends on your taste, but can freeze them. A good pastechi at any time of name a few. q

Planning on snorkeling? Get to know our Candelchi!

(Oranjestad)—If you’re ever planning on snor- Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, known as with pink or red hues and often show heart-
keling during your vacation on Aruba, you may Santa Rosa, offers this informative article that shaped streaks between the scales along the
spot fish that you can’t recognize. One of these illustrate some fish and their names in Papia- body. They have hard fins and are always
may be the “Candelchi” (Squirrelfish), a com- mento. armed. Over at our sister island Curaçao, they
mon, yet shy fish that swims all year long in the are called "bari di clabo" (nail barrel) for that
waters of Aruba. Candelchi, Squirrelfish, Holocentrus adscensio- reason.
nis:
Let's talk about the names of fish. Do you know Candelchi actually refers to the entire squir- In our waters, there are 7 to 8 types or species
your fish? The Department of Department of relfish family or, as some say, when we say can- present and they are sometimes caught and
delchi, we mean several different species but seen occasionally. They can be distinguished
without distinguishing them by species. In this by different marks such as color on the dorsal
picture, we are showing the most common one spine or marks on the body.
in our waters, which is called squirrelfish in Eng-
lish or scientifically known as Holocentrus ad- In Aruba:
scensionis. Candelchi are found on reefs or areas with
structure in the water where they can hide.
Under candelchi, we in Aruba generally refer to Although they prefer to hunt for food at night,
all the different species of squirrelfish. They all they are also active during the day. They are
look alike and it's really difficult to distinguish be- edible and delicious when prepared dry and
tween them. crispy with lime. It is particularly challenging to
scale the fish, which is why it is not one of the
The squirrelfish family is distinguished by the fol- favorites among fishermen. They often live in
lowing characteristics. They are heart-shaped groups.q