My German friend Kerstin, who’s big into baking and cooking, asked if I wanted to take an empanada cooking class with her. I think we all know what the answer to that question was. Over the course of 2 Friday mornings we learned how to make 6 different kinds of empanadas. Empanadas de Ambato were filled with cane sugar and cheese. Empanadas de Mejido contained a completely different sweetened cheese filling. Empanadas Venezolanas had ground beef and veggies inside. Empanadas de Viento are big airy pillows of fried dough containing melted bits of cheese. Empanadas de Arroz are made of a rice dough and filled with ground beef and veggies. And Empanadas de Verde are made from a complicated plantain dough (so complicated I couldn’t even get a picture of them) with a cheesy center.
There was a lot of dough, most of it containing lard. There was a lot of cheese. There was a lot of frying. I probably won’t make these at home very often, but it was still fun to cook (and of course sample!) some Ecuadorian food. My coworkers raved about the leftovers I shared at my office, so I guess the empanadas turned out pretty well.
Oh, vegetarian empanadas, how do I love thee? A former Colombian student of mine is vegetarian and her mother got really good at making delicious vegetarian empanadas. She brought them to an international coffee hour once and I’ve dreamed of them ever since.
[...] to cook some Ecuadorian dishes. Check. I took an empanada cooking class, and I got an Ecuadorian cookbook when I attended a second cooking class organized by the [...]