Maestro Empanadas

I have loved empanadas my entire life. They are a recurring theme throughout the world--a portable meal, completely encased in a container of dough. They are called different things--pasty's in Cormwall, calzones in Campania, bao in China, samosas in India, pierogis in Poland, vareniki in Russia, the list goes on--but they share common features. The highly seasoned filling is one. I like it when there are a number of vegtables that have been cooked in with some sort of protein for the filling. A little bit of heat is also a good thing--a chile or something along that line. The crust is equally important and also varied. The best option for me is something that is browned but holds together well under being consumed. If multiple cultures have a variation on this theme, it is a food that has universal appeal. What is it about them? They are savory, often filled with something that is inexpensive (or better yet, if you are making them yourself, with leftovers), highly flavored, and transportable. My favorite empanada experience was buying them on the street in Bolivia. So delicious, and sold for a song. Now there are empanadas in Iowa City. An Argentinian, making empanadas of the type found in northern Argentina, has a business whereby they make five different kinds of empanadas (beef, chicken, pork, cheese and zucchini) that you can buy at the Farmer's Market, or with 24 hour notice, they will deliver (http://maestroempanadas.com/). Once I knew about this, I immediately ordered up the full assortment of choices and had my family over for dinner. We have children who eat only meat, some who are vegetarian, and so there was something for everyone. The cheese were the most popular with my offspring, although my least favorite of the five. The beef have a nice blend of vegetables and meat of the three meat varieties, the chicken are much moister than you might expect, and the zucchini are remarkably good--all of them could use a bit more spice, but we keep a bottle of hot sauce on the table and that was easily remedied. I would highly recommend this new dining option.