Παστελλάκι χαρουπιού Πηγή: Στάλω Λαζάρου.
The preparation of pastellin from carobs was a process with many stages and a long duration. It is still used today in the village of Anogyra, the only village where carob syrup and pastelli are still made in a traditional way.
Name - Recipe
Παστέλι από χαρουπόμελο.
Pastellin was made in Cyprus since very old times and is also found in Assizes as a taxable product. Pastellin is made with carob syrup, which in Cyprus is also found under the names mavromelo or epsima (Ionas 2001, 227).
As the folklorist Nearchos Clerides mentions, the word pasteli comes from the French word pastel, which was adopted in the Cypriot vocabulary during the years of the rule of the Francs as "pastelin" ( Sophocleous 2004, 200).
Ripe carobs
The process of making pastelli is also described on the website of the village of Anogyra, which is the only village where carob syrup and pastelli are still made in the traditional way: "Pasteli is basically made during the months from September to May, because when the weather is hot pastelli is not easily moulded. For the production of pasteli, large and thick carobs are chosen that contain sugar. After they are washed and dried, they are ground in the traditional olive mill. They are then put in large containers of water to soak for about 20 hours. They are then put into baskets which are placed on a sloping board. The carob juice, called 'sierepetti', drips from these baskets and is then collected in large containers. They then take the sherepetti and pour it into a large copper pot called "harjí", which they place on the fire and stir every now and then. With a wooden spoon they stir for 6-7 hours until it thickens and becomes carob syrup. They fill 2 buckets [containers] of carob syrup at a time and fill another "hard" which is also placed on the fire. They stir it constantly for about 4 hours until it thickens and becomes a black amorphous mass. They place this mass on a clean plate and wait for it to cool for a while. Then they take a quantity of 1-2 kg at a time and place it on a wooden stake on the wall. Then a woman begins to pull it with skill. She stretches it, braids it, pulls it again until it becomes blond in color and becomes like gold. Finally, it is placed in small basins" (http://www.anogyra.org/pasteli.shtm).
Boiling.
Here you can watch how pastel is made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNghjdfVVS0&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qVndtFJXAc&feature=related
http://www.anogyra.org/videos/6.html
http://www.anogyra.org/videos/1.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLFKvYLPS6Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYtMa8Xg1bs&feature=player_embedded
Functional and symbolic role
Pastellin was bought by resellers, who reboiled it and formed it into slabs, which were sprinkled with plenty of sesame seeds. These slabs were made into small pieces which were then sold by onja [¼ of an oka] at festivals. Pastellin was the sweet of the festivals. All the children waited for their parents to return from the fair or the bazaar in the town they were visiting to bring them pastellin. But the pastellades (sellers of pastellin) also toured the villages, mainly on Sundays, and sold the pastellin to those who wanted to take it home (Ionas 2001, 227-229). They would go out into the streets and fairs to sell it, praising their tasty produce in a melodious voice: “I sell the good pastellin, I sell it for 3 grossia (piastres)… (Sophocles 2004, 200).
Additional information and bibliography
The most famous pastellin was the one from the village of Kazafani. Somewhat more recently, the village of Pellapais acquired its own carob mill and good pastellin was also made there. The pastelli makers were not the owners of the mill and they had to pay milling fees to the owner. They would take not only the carobs with them to the mill, but also the ingredients for making the food. They also would take rough bedding so that they could cook and sleep on the spot until the whole process would be complete, namely washing the carobs, grinding, extracting the juice, boiling it and turning it into very thick black syrup as well as constantly pulling to prepare the solid pastelli out of the black syrup. All of this had to be done without rest and the process was long enough to take not only all day but much of the night. Also, Anogyra was in earlier times one of the most famous villages in Cyprus for the very good quality pastellin that it was producing ( Sophocleous 2004, 200).
Ionas I. (2001), The traditional professions of Cyprus, Publications of the Centre for Scientific Research, XXVII, Nicosia.
Sophocleous G. (2002-2006), Window to our Cyprus: folklorecultural anthology, Vol. A-C, MAGS Press, Larnaca.
Web source: Anogyra Community Council, "Pasteli"", http:// www.anogyra.org/pasteli.shtm.
Stalo Lazarou, Tonia Ioakim, Argyro Xenophontos
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