Type | Savoury pie |
---|---|
Place of origin | Mexico |
Region or state | Hidalgo |
A paste (Spanish: [ˈpaste]) is a small pastry produced in the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico and in the surrounding area. They are stuffed with a variety of fillings including potatoes and ground beef, apples, pineapple, sweetened rice, or other typical Mexican ingredients, such as tinga and mole.
Unlike empanadas, the filling ingredients for pastes are not cooked before they are wrapped in the pastry casing. Additionally, while empanadas are a light, flaky, leavened pastry containing several layers of dough, pastes use a firm and thin layer of dough.
The paste has its roots in the Cornish pasty, introduced by miners and builders from Cornwall, United Kingdom, who were contracted in the towns of Mineral del Monte (Real del Monte) and Pachuca in Hidalgo, from 1824 onwards. The Festival Internacional del Paste is held in Real del Monte for three days each October.