Pastechi

Pastechi is Curaçao's quintessential snack and breakfast, a deep-fried turnover that fuels mornings across the island. A round of soft, slightly sweet dough is folded over a savoury filling, sealed with a crimped edge, and fried until the shell turns golden and crisp. The most common filling is Dutch cheese (often Gouda or Edam), but spiced minced meat and fish are popular too, so a tray at a bakery usually offers a choice.

This is grab-and-go food at its best. Curaçaoans buy pastechi from bakeries, snack trucks (the famous truk'i pan or "bread truck" stands), and roadside stalls, often eaten warm out of hand on the way to work or school. Crisp on the outside, soft and savoury within, a hot pastechi is the island's most reliable quick bite, and it is cheap enough to be an everyday treat.

When and where to eat it

Pastechi is above all a breakfast food, but it is sold throughout the day and is a fixture at parties and gatherings, where small ones are served as finger food.

• Cheese is the classic filling; ask for keshi (cheese), karni (meat), or piská (fish) depending on the bakery.
• Find them at neighbourhood bakeries and snack trucks across Willemstad and beyond, best eaten fresh and hot.

For a true local breakfast, skip the hotel buffet one morning and pick up a hot cheese pastechi from a bakery instead. It is exactly how the island starts the day.