Page 12 - AHATA

A9
LOCAL Tuesday 22 July 2025

Papiamento words and phrases you A quick snack for the

may want to know! road: Learn how to make

the Aruban Pastechi!
Greetings during the day
Most, if not all, languages have different (Oranjestad)—If you ever thickness of the pastechi
ways to greet according to the time of
day, and Papiamento is no different. Since been to Aruba before, depends on your taste, but
you probably heard of the average thinness would
Papiamento is heavily influences from
Portuguese and Spanish, some of these (and even tried) the Aru- be around ¼ inch or so.
ban Pastechi. Beloved by
phrases may look very familiar.
young and old, this tasty Filling for the pastechis
1. Bon dia is used in the morning, up to treat is a staple for party varies according to your
about noon. Bon dia essentially means snacks, a quick lunch or taste. The easiest and most
even breakfast!
common filling you’ll find in
good morning. The word “bon” means
(Oranjestad)—Aruba is a melting pot of “good”, and while “dia” does not di- Aruba is a simple cheese
different nationalities, cultures and lan- rectly mean “morning” in English, it is Here’s how to make the filling. For this, we usually
guages. Primarily for this reason, the aver- used often to refer to the morning time. Pastechi dough. use shredded Gouda, but
age Aruban can understand and speak 2. Bon tardi. In the afternoon to early feel free to use any cheese
Dutch, English and Spanish relatively well. evening hours, we use “bon tardi” to Ingredients: that melts well when frying
However, as much as we pride ourselves greet people, which means “good af- 4 cups of wheat flour the pastry.
in being able to communicate with almost ternoon”. “Tardi” actually comes from 1 tbsp baking powder (if
everyone, we cherish our native tongue the word “atardi”, which directly trans- using self-rising flour, omit Place the filling on your
Papiamento above all else. Want to learn lates to “afternoon”. However, the baking powder) rolled out piece of dough,
some common words in our language? shortened “tardi” is used to keep the 1 tsp salt fold it in half and pinch the
Here are a few basic words and phrases rhythm on the phrase. And the same 1 tbsp sugar sides shut with a fork. If you
that can get you a hat tip from an Aruban. could be said for our last greeting of 0.5 cup of melted butter have a folding tool, feel free
the day. 1 cup water to use it for this process.
When you arrive at the airport in Aruba, 3. Bon nochi. You guessed it, “bon nochi” 1 egg Your pastechi is ready for
one of the first words in Papiamento you means “good night”. Just like “tardi”, the fryer!
may encounter is “Bon bini.” Bon bini in Pa- “nochi” is actually the shortened ver- Directions:
piamento means welcome, and is proba- sion of the word “anochi”. Sift your flour into a bowl If you want to store some
bly the most famous Papiamento word for and add all the dry ingredi- pastechis for later use, you
tourists. Yes…no…maybe? ents before giving it a quick can freeze them. A good tip
The affirmative and negative expression is mix. Next add the butter, is to place a piece of wax
Hi! Bye! very simple in Papiamento. Just like Span- water and egg and mix un- paper in between each
To be fair, there is no unique way to say ish, our yeses are “si” and our no’s are til thoroughly combined. At pastechi if you are to store
“hello” in Papiamento. At least, not offi- “no”. Pretty easy right? If you want to gain this point, your dough will them on top of one another.
cially. We often just use the English “hello” some extra points from younger locals, you start to get sticky; time for This way the pastechis don’t
or “hey”, or Dutch “hallo” to greet some- can also say “se”, which is a more casual an arm workout. Knead your stick to each other when
one. We do however, always follow it up affirmative used mostly by the younger dough into the bowl you are defrosting.
with “con bay?” or “con ta?” Con bay is a generation. However, do note: some old- using or on a clean surface
shortened version of “con ta bay?”, which er generations may find this improper and with some flour lightly dust- Here in Aruba we enjoy
essentially means “how are you?” not respectful, so keep that in mind. ed until its surface is smooth. pastechi at any time of
You'll know your dough is the day, but it has be-
The word “con” in Papiamento means Thanks man… ready when it doesn’t stick come almost tradition to
“how?” and is pronounced with a rounder Lastly, a word that we can also say more to your hands or the surface eat pastechis for breakfast
“o” sounds, like in the English word “cone”. often is “danki”, which means literally on which you’re kneading it. on the way to work. Many
“Ta bay” refers to how you are doing. “thank you”. “Danki” is derived from the Let your dough rest covered roadside snack trucks sell
Dutch word “bedankt”. Though we don’t for 15-20 minutes. pastechi from early morning
When we say goodbye, we use the word really have a translation for “I appreciate to noon, and offer a vari-
“ayo” (not like the Ayo Rock Formation, it” in English, we do use “masha danki” to After resting, divide your ety of fillings like cheese;
but also…kinda?). We may also use “te convey the message. “Masha” means “a dough into approximately ham and cheese; ground
oro”, which means “see you later”. lot” or “very”, so “masha danki” means 100 gram balls and roll it beef and pulled chicken to

“thank you very much”. q flat with a rolling pin. The name a few. q