Empanada

Origins

Empanadas trace back their origins to the northwest region of Spain, Galicia. A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520, Llibre del Coch by Robert de Nola, mentions empanadas filled with seafood in the recipes for Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food.

Argentina

Argentine empanadas are often served during parties and festivals as a starter or main course. Shops specialize in freshly made empanadas, with many flavors and fillings.

During Lent and Easter, empanadas de Cuaresma fillings with fish (usually dogfish or tuna) are popular.

Belize

In Belize, empanadas are known as panades. They are made with masa (corn dough) and typically stuffed with fish, chicken, or beans. They are usually deep fried and served with a cabbage or salsa topping. Panades are frequently sold as street food.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde cuisine features the pastel, as well. Cape Verdean pastéis are often filled with spicy tuna fish. One particular variety, the pastel com o diabo dentro (literally: Pastel with the devil within), is particularly spicy, and is made with a dough made from sweet potatoes and cornmeal.

Chile

In Chile, empanadas are a staple part of the national cuisine. Commonly consumed in large quantities during the country's national day celebrations, many Chileans consider this to be their most representative dish. The most common type of Chilean empanada is what is referred to as the empanada de pino, it is a baked empanada filled with diced or ground beef sautéed with onions and spices, half of a hard boiled egg, an olive and raisins. In the coastal regions of the country, seafood empanadas are also very popular.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, empanadas are known as panada. In the North Sulawesi version, panada has thick crust made from fried bread, filled with spicy tuna and chili, curry, potatoes or quail eggs. This dish almost similar to karipap and pastel.

Philippines

Filipino empanadas usually contain ground beef, pork or chicken, potatoes, chopped onions, and raisins (somewhat similar to the Cuban picadillo) in a somewhat sweet, wheat flour bread. There are two kinds available: the baked sort and the flaky fried type. To lower costs, potatoes are often added as an extender, while another filling is kutsay (garlic chives).

Empanadas in the northern part of the Ilocos usually have savoury fillings of green papaya, mung beans, and sometimes chopped Ilocano sausage (chorizo) or longaniza and egg yolk. There have also been people who make empanada filled with mashed eggplant, scrambled eggs, and cabbage, which they call poqui poqui.

In Bulacan, empanada de kaliskis (lit. "scale empanada"), uniquely has a flaky multilayered crust resembling scales, hence the name. In Cebu, empanada Danao is a characteristically sweet-savory variant. It is filled with chopped chorizo and chayote, deep-fried, and dusted in white sugar before serving. In Zamboanga, empanada Zamboangueño is filled with chopped sweet potato, garbanzo beans, and served with a sweet vinegar dipping sauce.

Among the Tausūg people, empanada is known as pastil (not to be confused with the pastil of eastern Mindanao). It was introduced to the Tausūg via the Spanish in Zamboanga, and the name is derived from Spanish pastel ("pastry"). It can have a variety of fillings, including togue (mung bean sprouts), chicken Philippine adobo, various vegetables, and uniquely also pancit bihon (rice noodles). It is served with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Dessert versions of empanada also exist. Notable ones include empanaditas, which commonly has a filling of latik (coconut caramel), honey and nuts, or peanut butter. Kapampangan versions of empanaditas have a yema (custard) and cashew nut filling. In Cebu, sinudlan empanada is a small deep-fried empanada with bukayo (sweetened coconut meat) filling.

Sicily (Italy)

The 'Mpanatigghi are stuffed, consisting of halfmoon-shaped panzarotti filled with a mixture of almonds, walnuts, chocolate, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and minced beef. These are typical of Modica, in the province of Ragusa, Sicily. They are also known as impanatiglie or dolce di carne (pasty of meat).

They were probably introduced by the Spaniards during their rule in Sicily which took place in the sixteenth century; this is suggested from the etymology of the name which comes from the Spanish "empanadas or empanadillas" (empanada), as well as from the somewhat unusual combination of meat and chocolate, which occurs several times in the Spanish cuisine. In past centuries for the preparation of 'mpanatigghi game meat was used but today beef is used.

United States

Empanadas, mainly based on South American recipes, are widely available in New York City, New Jersey, and Miami from food carts, food trucks, and restaurants. Empanadas are usually found in U.S. areas with a large Hispanic population, like San Antonio and Los Angeles.

Similar foods

The empanada resembles savory pastries found in many other cultures, such as the pirozhki, calzone, samosa, knish, kreatopitakia, Khuushuur, and pasty.

In most malay speaking countries in Southeast Asia, the pastry is commonly called karipap (English: Curry puff)