It’s been a while since I’ve shared a piece of my writing! I’ve been busy editing and catching typhoid, but here’s a recipe for one of my favorite Sinaloa snacks, published last week.

I first tasted pastel de atún, or tuna cake―a dish made of layers of white sandwich bread frosted with a creamy, tuna-based sauce―when a neighbor started selling little pink slices of it at a corner store near my home in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Although pastel de atún may resemble a sugary, frosted layer cake, it’s deeply savory through and through, both creamy and spicy, cold and sweet.

Pastel de atún is a traditional staple at children’s birthday parties since it’s an affordable option that looks like a cake and can be decorated accordingly. As a bonus, it doesn’t require an oven; in Sinaloa, which sits right on the Tropic of Cancer, baking in an indoor oven can make a home uncomfortably hot, so many kitchens don’t have one. The cake is usually served cold with a side of frijoles puercos (a Sinaloa specialty of refried beans with lard, chorizo, and a little chile). It’s also a popular make-ahead option to bring along on family outings to the beach or water park and eaten as “la comida,” or the main meal of the day. It’s “like ceviche but cheaper,” one Mazatleca friend told me. 

Seafood has been a mainstay in coastal Sinaloa since before Spanish colonization. Many coastal residents still work in the seafood industry, on tuna and shrimp boats, on shrimp farms, or selling seafood in markets or to restaurants. Eating seafood on a daily basis is common, which means locals know their way around a fish. As a result, creative recipes that incorporate easily-available ingredients like canned tuna abound, especially in home cooking. There’s a wide range of tuna salads, tuna ceviches (made with either canned or fresh tuna), and even protein shakes with canned tuna, which are sold at many of Mazatlán’s popular smoothie shops. Then, of course, there’s pastel de atún. 

Full story in Serious Eats ↓

https://www.seriouseats.com/pastel-de-atun-mexican-tuna-cake-5272351