Page 3 - MidWeek West - Nov 9, 2022

Home-cooked Puerto Rican Classics Keep Customers Coming Back For More
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container), and gandule rice and bacalao salad ($8 each for a 1-pound container) are available for customers.
we build relationships with our customers. All of that started from my mother’s dream.
food taste just like, as the name says, grandma used to make.
“My mom wanted my daughter to take over the business,” says Cornwell Cabais. “That’s why she named it Grandma’s Paste- les, so it would represent multiple generations. For me, it’s my mom and grand- ma. Then again, we have a big ‘ohana like many here in Hawai‘i. My grandma was everyone’s grandma.”
“That’s our whole menu,” Cornwell Cabais says. “I make only what was passed down to me. That was passed down from my great-great-grand- mother, who was one of the first Puerto Ricans that came to Hawai‘i. That step of wrapping the pasteles with ti leaves is the original back-in-the-day style.
“Unfortunately, she was sick and needed my help at some point. For her to suffer from a heart condition from when she was 19, basically it was a broken heart.
The local business spe- cializes in catering events of various sizes and relies on phone orders.
Empanadillas, pasteles, gandule rice and pastele stew from Grandma’s Pasteles are all based on family recipes. PHOTOS COURTESY GRANDMA’S PASTELES
good with a lot of flavor, which you also notice in our pasteles and empanadillas. We make the dough for the empanadillas from scratch. People ask us if we sell just
The empanadilla from Grandma’s Pasteles is prepared using techniques passed down through generations. The result is food that tastes — as the name says — just like it was made by grandma in a home kitchen.
helps run the operation. “We do what we do from our pu‘uwai (heart),” Corn- well Cabais says. “We give it our all to provide quality food, fair prices, consistency and great customer service as
“She had the biggest heart, biggest smile, biggest person- ality; she was a big giver and would always love to help, never expecting anything back. Like Santa Claus!”
The Puerto Rican-in- spired menu at Grandma’s Pasteles is simple yet effi- cient: pasteles and empana- dillas ($4.50 apiece), paste- le stew ($12 for a 1-pound
“Many feel it has to be from grandma. The food is consistent, not a hit-or- miss type of quality,” she continues. “Our customers can depend on us as a small business giving the perfect portions so that their favor- ites are always tasty.
the dough because they love it so much.”
To place an order, email grandmaspasteles@gmail. com or call 808-726-7447 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“The pastele stew is so
Cornwell Cabais ex- plains that only her imme- diate ‘ohana of three (she calls it a factory) — includ- ing a 5-year-old keiki —
Also, follow Grand- ma’s Pasteles on Instagram and Facebook (@grand- maspasteles) for the latest updates, menu information and photos.
NOVEMBER 9, 2022 3
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