THE FREAKIN RICAN

Derick Lopez, The Freakin Rican

How The Freakin Rican Uses Grandma Ann's Every Day

Before there were two restaurants, there were pasteles—and a Grandma Ann’s Electric Grater in a small New York City apartment.

Derick Lopez, known throughout his community as The Freakin Rican, began using the grater to prepare the green bananas, yautía, yuca and calabaza needed for authentic Puerto Rican masa. It helped him produce pasteles efficiently enough to begin selling them and sharing the food he grew up with on a larger scale.

Learn more about making authentic Puerto Rican pasteles masa with Grandma Ann’s.

What started with homemade pasteles and a New York City street-fair food stand in 2014 grew into The Freakin Rican’s two full-service Puerto Rican restaurants. Grandma Ann’s has been part of Derick’s remarkable journey from the apartment kitchen to the restaurant kitchen since 2013.

Visit The Freakin Rican

Visit the official Freakin Rican Restaurant website

“This machine has made me a lot of money.”
— Chef Derick Lopez, The Freakin Rican

WHY TEXTURE MATTERS

Authentic Pasteles Texture — Without Hours of Hand Grating

Grandma Ann's grates green bananas, yautía, yuca/cassava, calabaza and plantains into the grated texture traditional masa depends on. It grates rather than blends, so you're not turning your ingredients into a smooth blender puree.

REGULAR BLADE INCLUDED

For Pasteles, Start With the Regular Blade

The Regular Grating Blade comes with every Grandma Ann's Electric Grater and is our preferred blade for traditional pasteles and alcapurrias masa.

The optional Fine Grating Blade creates a finer texture and can be useful for foods such as fresh coconut, but it can make cassava finer than we generally recommend for traditional pasteles masa.

SAVE THE HAND WORK

Minutes, Not Hours

Large family batches that once meant hand grating ingredient after ingredient can be prepared in minutes with Grandma Ann's.

Made for the Ingredients in Your Masa

  • Fresh green bananas used in traditional Puerto Rican pasteles masa Green Bananas
  • Fresh yautía root cut open to show the interior Yautía
  • Fresh yuca cassava roots cut open to show the white interior, used in pasteles masa Yuca / Cassava
  • Fresh calabaza squash cut open to show its orange flesh, an ingredient used in traditional pasteles masa Calabaza
  • Fresh plantains prepared for grating Plantains

Grate each ingredient separately, then combine them according to your family's recipe.

How to Get the Perfect Grate

Simple technique. Authentic grated texture.

A Small Remnant Is Normal

A small remnant can remain because the pusher stops just above the grating drum for safety — especially with irregularly shaped foods. The Stack & Push technique helps minimize it.

Easy to Clean. Backed by Our Family.

Dishwasher-safe bowl, blade and hopper. A 1-year warranty. And real support from the Grandma Ann's family if you ever need help.

Useful Long After Pasteles Season

  • Potatoes
  • Fresh Coconut
  • Horseradish
  • Hard Cheeses

Save With Derick's Code

Use the code below when you shop the standard Grandma Ann's Electric Grater.

Code: freakin

What You're Getting

  • Grandma Ann's Electric Grater
  • Regular Grating Blade — INCLUDED
  • Stainless Steel Bowl
  • Hopper / Pusher Assembly
  • Choose your voltage: USA & Canada (110-120V) or International (220-240V)

1/2 HP motor

The electric machine grates and shreds. It does not slice.