Empanadas

Posted on February 27, 2007
Filed Under Montevideo, Food and Drink | 1 Comment

EmpanadasBy now probably everybody in the world already knows about empanadas. At the risk of treading on the well known and the familiar, I will revisit the subject and add my two cents.

The basic concept behind the empanada is to take a round 12-15 cm thin dough cutout, deposit one of 50 possible fillings near the center, fold it and crimp it around the edges. The end result is a fat, half-moon looking thing, which is then either deep-fried or baked.

Empanadas fritas and al horno, as the two main types are called, are very different things, with strong advocates for both. In my opinion, either can be quite good when fresh. But if they have been sitting under a glass display-case for 4 hours or longer, as it is often the case, I would choose the al horno every time. As a matter of fact, I think I would rather have the al horno no matter what.

Having selected the class of empanada, you will still need to decide on the filling. The classic empanadas are the ham and cheese (jamón y queso), the ground beef (carne) with various seasonings or the sweet ones filled with quince marmalade (membrillo) or dulce de leche. Any empanaderia worth its salt will have fifteen or more alternate fillings to choose from, ranging from the simple to the exotic, savory or sweet. Usually two empanadas are enough for a good snack or for a light meal. They go well with beer or a decent red table wine.

Warning, not all empanadas are created equal. If this is your first time, procure a good one. This way, if you eat it and still don’t like it, then you can safely cross out the whole genre from your diet.

Last time I was in Montevideo, I tried empanadas from several places. The quality and tastiness ranged from the tempting-even-if-you-are-stuffed, to the ok-if-you-are-starving-and-the-fridge-is-empty type. Based on my somewhat limited sampling, I can recommend the following places as the best of the bunch: La Chacha, 19 pesos each, Marti 3379, in Pocitos (they deliver); Medialunas Calientitas, 25 pesos, on 21 de Septiembre, also in Pocitos.

For the record, I tried several types of empanadas on several occasions at La Chacha, and they were always consistently excellent. But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Paturuzú. On the other hand, I also bought pre-packaged empanadas from a few supermarkets and they were all consistently so-so. Perhaps the supermarket variety is a good comfort food for people already familiar with the treat. But for the newbie, I think it would be a shame to spoil that glorious first encounter with empanada-ness.

Other posts in Food and DrinkOther posts in Montevideo

Related Posts

Comments

Click here to view the most recent comments from all posts

1 Comment to “Empanadas”

  1. Alfonso on July 17th, 2007 4:09 pm

    I like empanadas.