Pastel de choclo


Pastel de choclo is a South American dish based on sweetcorn or choclo. It is also similar to pastel de elote, found in Mexican cuisine, and to the English corn pudding. The filling usually contains ground beef, chicken, raisins, black olives, onions or slices of hard boiled egg.

Preparation

The dish is prepared with sweetcorn ground into a paste. It is then seasoned with ground basil that is blended into the corn. The mixture is pre-cooked with milk and a little lard and used as a topping for the filling. The filling, known as “pino”, contains minced beef cooked with onions, paprika, other spices, and sometimes chicken, is also used as a filling for traditional Chilean empanadas. The pino is laid in the bottom of the paila with slices of hard boiled egg, olives and raisins.

In popular culture

The Argentinian poet Florencio Escardó wrote the following ode to pastel de choclo, published in 1876: