Rico pastel de Chucho ESP/ ENG

Today I would like to share a recipe that my mom and I prepared during Easter week to share with the family. It is a dish that is typical of the east of our country, especially Margarita Island, this dish is based on plantain and has striped fish. This preparation is the rich pastel de Chucho, formerly known as cuajado. The original components to make this cake are potatoes, eggs, plantains, olives, onion, tomato, chili bell pepper and onoto, and it uses dogfish as the variable of chucho or, we could replace it with skate.

En esta versión que preparamos nosotras utilizamos los siguientes ingredientes:

In this version that we prepared we use the following ingredients:

• 1 kilo de cazón / 1 kilo of dogfish
• 1 ½ de queso duro (rallado) / 1 ½ hard cheese (grated)
• 5 kilos de plátano / 5 kilos of plantains
• 200 gr de pasitas / 200 grams of raisins
• 2 cebollas grandes / 2 large onions
• 1 cabeza de ajo / 1 head of garlic
• 150 gr de ají dulce / 150 grams of sweet chili bell pepper
• 1 pimentón verde grande / 1 large green bell pepper
• 1 pimentón rojo grande / 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 rama de ajo porro / 1 branch of garlic
• 150 gr de perejil / 150 grams of parsley
• 150 gr de cilantro / 150 grams of cilantro
• 200 gr de alcaparras / 200 gr capers
• 1 taza de aceite onotado / 1 cup of olive oil
• 1 cucharadita de Paprika, cúrcuma y comino / 1 teaspoon of Paprika, turmeric and cumin
• Sal y pimienta al gusto / Salt and pepper to taste

Put the dogfish in a pot with hot water for 10 minutes on the stove. Then we remove it and proceed to wash it well and squeeze it to remove the impurities so it does not have a bitter taste. Then we will crumble it and let it rest.

Cazón desmenuzado. Se ve poco porque seleccioné aparte un poquito para la foto/ Shredded dogfish. You can see little because I selected a little bit for the photo.

The next step is to wash our seasonings very well and cut them into small squares (brunoise). We will also peel the garlic and then crush it. Grate the cheese and place it in a container and set aside.

Then chop the plantains into long slices and fry them in enough oil and set aside.

Place a frying pan on the stove with oil, after it is hot, add the seasonings separately so that they release their juices and thus, the preparation is more tasty. We will start adding the onion, then the garlic, the paprika, the chili peppers, the sprigs of chives, cilantro, parsley and the capers together with the raisins.

Then add the shredded fish and mix well. Add the paprika, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook and add a cup of chicken broth, vegetable broth or water. WARNING, do not add the broth of the dogfish, because the flavor is bitter and can give an undesirable taste to the palate and damage the preparation.

Tapamos y dejamos cocinar por unos 10 minutos para que los sabores se integren y reservamos. / Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes for the flavors to integrate and set aside.

Esta es la parte que me tocó hacer a mí y cortar los aliños/ This is the part that I had to do and cut the dressings hehehe.

Assembling the cake is very easy. For that we will need a refractory tray or an aluminum or stainless steel pan. Start by placing a layer of banana to cover the tray well, then put a layer of grated cheese, followed by a layer of the fish already prepared and seasoned, add béchamel sauce to make it creamier, cover with another layer of banana, béchamel sauce and grated cheese.

NOTE: instead of using eggs as originally included in the recipe, we prepared a separate béchamel sauce to make it creamy, as it tends to be a little drier with eggs.

In another tray we did the same procedure and then we took them to the preheated oven, we will let it cook at a temperature of 250º c until it is golden brown. Remove and let it rest to serve.

It was really delicious and everyone in the house loved it. I was very happy to learn how to make this recipe and that my mom was the guide and teacher in this kitchen. I bid you a fond farewell and hope to share another delicious recipe with you soon. Best regards!

Fotos y edición/ Photos and editing @valeryb
Editor utilizado/ Publisher used: picsart
Hago los banners desde / I make the banners from: canva
Traductor/ Translator: deepl