My wife and I enjoy cooking and of course eating the food we prepare. Yesterday we decided to making from scratch empanadas. Different cultures around the world have come up with similar implementations. I am not a historian so I am not sure if all foods covered in some type of dough and then baked or deep fried, are derived from a single version or instance (the Computer Science shows up).
In the US we refer to a similar object with the name turnover. My wife’s family comes from Spain. According to this article the name empanada was mentioned in a book published in Catalan as early as 1520. It seems that one should be able to find the best recipes for empanadas in and around
Barcelona. Next time we are in that area will make sure to have some empanadas.
My parents came from Italy. As a matter of fact I am first generation not born in Genoa. In Italy there are similar foods named calzone and Stromboli both of which we had on my parents table quite often while growing up.
While searching the web with Chrome, I found this site which lists some foods related to empanadas. Empanadas enclose some type of food in dough while a food that is quite common in the US, presents the food in an
open face version. That is what pizzas are all about. You can read more about pizza here. The modern pizza was created in Napoli, Italy, and yes my wife and I have been to the restaurant that claims to have created the Neapolitan pizza.
So back to yesterday, my wife made about seven pounds of empanada stuffing (beef, onions, eggs, garlic, and many other spices). I made a batch of dough (flour, yeast, olive oil, and a few more ingredients) which was enough to make about 18 empanadas. While we were preparing the food, one of my wife’s nice stopped by. Apparently she was interested in joining us for lunch. While we were chatting, my son calls. One thing and the other and he (plus wife and two sons) requested some empanadas for Sunday. We where forgetting that
two of my in-laws and spouses were stopping by around 02:00 PM for lunch.
Panic mode set in. We had plenty of stuffing, but not enough dough. I made a second batch. As the empanadas were taking shape, I made a third batch. Of course the dough did not have enough time to rise, but it had to be done. When all was set and done, we ended with around six dozen empanadas. We were baking them in batches so things were moving along.
Our formal guests arrived so we all had empanadas with lime, beer, and wine. On Friday, my wife had prepared a couple gypsy arms stuffed with “dulce de leche”. We forgot to serve the salad but I had more than enough to eat and drink. We did not have a chance to walk outside yesterday. That said; I checked my fitbit before going to bed. I had about 10,500 steps. I was pleasantly surprised with the final tally.
Today we are going out for Chinese food. We do not wish to cook. Continue reading “Singleton Threads”