Calzones rotos

On Saturday evening, I helped my family make some sort of pastry called "calzones rotos." They are comprised of a sort of heavy, dense dough fried and then covered in powdered sugar. I know, amazing, right? I LOVE THIS COUNTRY! Basically, you roll out the dough, cut it into strips, slice the middle and then fold one side of the pastry through to the other side.

Mariela is frying and Felipe is dusting the calzones rotos in powdered sugar, which he enjoyed pretending was cocaine!

So, family togetherness in the kitchen was made a little awkward by the fact that I thought the calzones rotos resembled a key part of the female anatomy. The pictures don't necessarily do the comparison justice, but trust me! So I was quietly reflecting on this fact to myself, when Mariela asked me if I knew what "calzones rotos" meant. I decided that since the word "calzones" sounds exactly like the Italian word "calzone," so I said, "Un tipo de comida italiana?" ("A type of Italian food?") Mariela started cracking up, and told me in actuality it is a slang term for vagina. We giggled for a long time, and I felt vindicated in my early impressions of our tasty treats!

Pre-fried calzones rotos.


Our creations are ready!

Onces near the stove--so cozy!


In unrelated news, have I mentioned how much I adore Mariela? She is a friend of the family, and she owns a store in the market two blocks from our house, so she comes over a lot for onces. She is super fun since she talks a lot, and the themes of her verbosity revolve around one of my three favorite things: food, travel, and men! When she is not talking, she is usually singing. Not only that, but since she works in the market she is really interested in and knowledgable about indeginous art. I enjoy her immensely.