Somewhere South

Hampas represent the story of the people who make them. My friend, Sandra Gutierrez, is an empanada whisperer, if you will. And I'm hoping she can help me better understand Hampa history. Hello Vivian, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Good, thank you, good to see you. Where are these empanadas from? It's a South American empanada place. But the fascinating thing looking at their menu is all the new southern latino versions that they have here. They have a shrimp and grits empanada. You guys ready to order? So we're going to try a beef. Okay. And definitely a Columbian empanada. The shrimp and grits and corn and cheese. That'll remind you of our cantina. All right, this is your corn. And that looks like an Argen kind.

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So you're like the resident expert on empanadas? Wow.

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I mean you literally wrote the book on it. I did. I wrote the book.

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So when we talk about empanadas it's always a semi-circle pastry filled with something? No. Okay. So

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Empanada means to encase in bread. And empanadas come in all different shapes and sizes. So in Bolivia, for instance, you'll have a saltea. Which is an empanada, looks like a football. And can be as big as my hand. I mean it's just, they're enormous. In Brazil they're called pastis. And they look identical to pop tarts. As long as it's encased and there's a filling in it, it's called an empanada. Okay. So the original empanada was, in what is today, modern day Iran, called Sfihas. It was a portable way for Muslims who were traveling on the Ottoman Empire but the original was thick and crusty because you would have a place to hold it from if your hands were dirty. And after you would eat it you would just throw that part of the crust away. Oh, wow. Isn't that cool? And the Ottoman Empire, you know takes over Spain for about eight centuries. Once it arrives to Spain, the name empanada is coined. And it comes from the word pan? Say it. Pan. Pan. Yes. Pan. Yeah. That one. Which come from the word panies, in Latin. So it's all bread. Bread. It's all bread. The original empanada come to Latin America in the 1500's, are basically a meat empanada that has raisins and olives. That is the Muslim Moorish tradition. And also two of the most polarizing ingredients. Totally. That exist. But that they work. Right? Yeah. But it's the fact that it's a pie. So it's encased in some kind of pastry or bread. And that you can just eat it with your hand. Which to me finger food is the most fun food that there is. It's happy food.