My grandmother, whom we call Abuelita Lucy, is a kind woman. We live hundreds of miles from each other now, but every time we call on the phone, she tells me how much she loves me and how surely she knows God will bless me. As I remember her from my youth, she had short-cropped reddish brown hair and a cooing voice that made me feel like a coddled baby. I still feel coddled when she talks to me. She puts a watermelon smile on my face.
Abuelita Lucy’s recipes are always relatively simple (at least on paper). She lists the ingredients and expects one to know what to do with them; and if one has spent enough time in the kitchen, I suppose that’s a fair expectation.
This is a recipe for pastel de elote, which translates to “corn cake”. Much like its name suggests, pastel de elote is similar to corn bread, only sweeter, denser, and more moist. One can have it with a cup of milk as a late night snack or as part of breakfast.
Although this isn’t a recipe used in Alegría, it’s definitely one that fits in its universe.
