Pastels

1. 1Wheat-flour dough rolled and shaped into a sealed pocket
2. 2Most classically filled with seasoned, flaked fish
3. 3Deep-fried until crisp and golden
4. 4Seasoned with Senegalese aromatics — onion, parsley, chili
5. 5Eaten hot from the fryer, often with a spicy onion or tomato sauce

Sealing the dough pocket

A tight seal keeps the fish filling from leaking into the oil

Deep-frying

Crisps the dough into the crackly shell that defines the street snack

Pre-seasoning and cooking the fish filling

The fish is flavored and cooked before wrapping so the brief fry only crisps the dough

Served

Whole, hot

Temperature

hot

Portion

One or two per person

Pairs with

Spicy onion sauce (sauce kani) · Tomato sauce · Bissap or ginger drink

• Fish filling → Minced meatadmissible

  Common alternative filling

• Lime → Vinegaradmissible

  Acceptable acid swap in the filling

• Deep-frying → Bakinginadmissible

  Loses the crisp fried shell central to the snack

• Using a too-wet fish filling that makes the dough soggy
• Frying at too low a heat so the pastels turn greasy
• Sealing poorly so the filling escapes and the oil fouls
• Under-seasoning the fish, leaving the snack bland

A Senegalese street-food staple, part of the West African fried-pastry tradition shaped by French colonial wheat-baking and local seafood.

Claimed by: Senegal

1. 1.Senegalese culinary tradition
2. 2.West African street-food references

Confidence: high