The British have their pasties, the Italian's their calzones, and South America have the empanada. These tasty morsels have a thick, smooth, pastry wrapped around a variety of fillings. The pastry is quite dense, not flakey or crumbly, and works beautifully to absorb the juices and flavours from the ingredients within. Generally savoury, the selection of fillings is endless: traditional 'carne' (or meat), 'pollo' (chicken), 'queso' (cheese), seafood, crab, ham and cheese, the list goes on. Flavours vary slightly in different regions also. We had amazing prawn and tuna empanadas on Easter Island, an incredibly juicy chicken version in Bolivia (so good I had juice running down my arm), and a variety called Caprese in Argentina containing tomato, basil and mozzarella. Baked or fried, I adore these things. They are delicious, in a wicked way, and are largely responsible for the tightening I have noticed around the waist of my jeans of late. So naughty, but so irresistible.
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