April 08, 2020 - 10 Facts About Empanadas

Today is National Empanada day.

Here are 10 deep fried facts about empanadas that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.  They used to be made with bread dough
   1. Now they are usually made with pastry dough
2.  Afghanistan has a variant of empanadas called bolanis
   1. They are usually stuffed with spinach or potatoes
   2. They are eaten during the evenings of ramadan 
3.  There are a wide variety of fillings for empanadas
   1. Obvious ones are meats and vegetables
   2. Sometimes fruits or other sweet foods
4.  In cuba they are usually just a snack
   1. Sometimes they will be a side dish
   2. Usually they are just something to eat between meals
5.  Empanadas were brought to the Philippines and latin america by early spanish colonists
6. They originated in northwest Spain, in a region called Galicia. 
7. They have been around for half a millennium. They date back to the 1520’s. 
8. Jamaica’s call them Jamaican patties instead and they are stuffed with seasoned ground beef. 
9. In Spanish “Pan”means bread. Empanar is a verb that means “to bread”. Empanada means “breaded”. 
10. The first empanada in the US was supposedly served at Taco Bell.