Are Jamaican patties common/popular where you live? (substitute, Indian, pastry)

[STT Resident]

Yes, they can be found here in the frozen food section of a couple of supermarkets but the local version in my part of the Caribbean are called "patés". The pastry is a fried dough (Johnny cake) and the fillings are a ground beef spicy mix or a saltfish mix or a conch mix (my favorite). They're sold in local bakeries, take-outs in some grocery stores and from local food vendor's roadside trucks. VERY much around these last few weeks as we wind down our Carnival festivities today! The Trinidadians have something very similar called "pasties". All good!

[Mrs. Skeffington]

They look kind of like Hot Pockets.

I've never seen/heard of them before. The only "ethnic" restaurant we have in our little Western PA town is a Chinese takeout joint.

[case44]

They are not common in area restaurants (around Dallas), but they can be found in the grocer's freezer. Once in a blue moon, I've been known to get some and throw them into the oven. They're pretty good.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Never heard of them. Not in south Texas, and not in northern Michigan.

What kinds of places serve them? Fast food, or street vendors, or ethnic dine-in, or heat-n-serve, or what? What time of day do you eat them? Snack, or meal?

Think of them as a pasty, with a Caribbean twist. They make a great lunch or snack.

[gentlearts]

Is there a standard way of making them? They seem a lot like empanadas, or Scottish pasties. They look good.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

Is there a standard way of making them? They seem a lot like empanadas, or Scottish pasties. They look good.

They're very much like empanadas but there are Jamaican seasonings mixed into the filling.

[dens]

Yes we as jamaicans have them for lunch or as a snack. They traditionally started as just beef but nowadays you can get them with everything in them. They are very popular here and is the equivalent of an American hamburger in terms of popularity. They key is the pastry and it needs to be flaky not doughy...then you get the spicyness of the meat and you are all set.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by dens

Yes we as jamaicans have them for lunch or as a snack. They traditionally started as just beef but nowadays you can get them with everything in them. They are very popular here and is the equivalent of an American hamburger in terms of popularity. They key is the pastry and it needs to be flaky not doughy...then you get the spicyness of the meat and you are all set.

Amen, I think that's why I don't like those sold in the grocery store. The pastry is just too heavy.

[Stumbler.]

Originally Posted by DandJ

Yup. They were definitely popular in Hartford, CT, where there's a large Caribbean/Jamaican population. Here in Worcester, MA there are a few places but not as many as in Hartford.

Yeah, I seem to notice they are popular in the tri-state area in the northeast.

Originally Posted by jtur88

Never heard of them. Not in south Texas, and not in northern Michigan.

What kinds of places serve them? Fast food, or street vendors, or ethnic dine-in, or heat-n-serve, or what? What time of day do you eat them? Snack, or meal?

I think it probably depends on the region I guess but all those options you mentioned are possible (eg. take out or ready to eat etc.). When I was a kid, I'd often grab them at convenience stores in the areas that sold them for a snack or lunch.

[TabulaRasa]

Caribbean food is very difficult to come by in my city, and region overall... Yelp brings up three restaurants, only, in a metro of two million. One of them, according to the Yelp reviews, boasts meat patties (but also boasts a fairly dangerous location, and apparently no heat, even in winter). Just not a significant enough population here that there are a lot of restaurants, which is kind of a bummer. So meat patties are nowhere near the common delicacy they are in east coast cities. We've got a lot of other decent ethnic dining, but Caribbean cuisine is an area of real deficiency.