Street Stall · Regional Staple

Empanadas

Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

Different Argentine provinces bake the same dish with distinct fillings and even distinct crimped-edge folds, so a cook can often tell an empanada's home region just by its edge.

These hand-sized turnovers of wheat dough are filled with seasoned beef, chicken, ham and cheese, or corn, then baked or fried, and sold hot from street stalls, bakeries, and market counters throughout Argentina. Fillings and the crimped 'repulgue' folding style vary distinctly by region.

Why it's made this way: The sealed-pastry format made empanadas an easy, portable meal historically for gauchos and travelers, and that same portability is exactly what keeps them a street-stall staple today.