¡Viva las empanadas!

Whether they are made with love by your Abuelita, your local food vendor or neighborhood restaurant, empanadas bring many of us to a happy place where many of our cultures thrive -- and make us reminisce of good times spent with friends and family here and abroad.

The beauty of the savory, golden treat, whether it's baked or fried, wheat or corn, salty or sweet, filled with ground beef, chicken, shrimp or cheese, or sweet filling, there are endless varieties and scrumptious medleys of empanadas that will keep you coming back for more.

As a self-proclaimed empanada lover, I admit, I would be ready at a moment's notice to prep the dough and have a fork in hand to press the edges as if I was ready for culinary war!  

In New York City and the surrounding boros, you are in store for a stellar international empanada experience. Depending upon which neighborhood you're in, and if you're craving Domincan, Puerto Rican, Colombian or Mexican food, etc., New Yorkers capture the flavors from their homeland.

Empanadas were thought to have originated in Spain, where the Empanada Festival is part of the Galician culture, but they are hugely popular throughout Latin America and even in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, where empanadas are filled with a spicy tuna mixture or rice.

In the United States, empanadas have taken on a life of their own. We're a melting pot, and within that pot, there are some pretty incredible chefs who wow the senses.  

Being half Colombian, Irish, Scottish and French Canadian, I truly appreciate a tasty empanada from New York to Bogotá. The version I grew up with had ground beef, onions, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, rice and garlic and other seasonings. Making empanadas in my Colombian-Anglo household reminds me of my mother and my Abuelita in the kitchen and the beautiful merging of our cultures. 

In honor of National Empanada Day, the Latino Post Company decided to indulge in an array of empanadas -- from spinach and cheese, beef, chicken, shrimp, and the Cuban from New York's Havana Central. Needless to say, we were happy campers!

"Empanadas are one of the most familiar items in Latin culture. They can be fried or baked. It's the perfect vehicle for chefs to be creative because it can be stuffed with an infinite combination of ingredients. And, most importantly, we pay tribute to the empanada on this day because it is and has always been the best-selling, guest favorite at Havana Central," Jeremy Merrin, CEO and Founder of Havana Central told Latin Post.

While we all come from different backgrounds and ethnicities, empanadas are universal. So, I was curious to learn what my colleagues thought of empanadas as well as their personal and cultural connection to them.

What do empanadas mean to you?

"Empanadas bring back memories of my mother serving them with tea or coffee in late afternoons.  Empanadas in Bolivia are cheese filled and are either baked or fried.  Both are delicious. Bolivians call 'salteñas' the meat filled (either beef or chicken) pockets that are known here in the U.S. as empanadas. They are larger than the empanada you would get at Havana Central -- just one is a meal in itself." -- said our Publisher, Patricia Sierra Sampson.

"Empanadas came much later for me; however, there were twins/imitators prior to and after. The Midwestern-style culinary treat 'Pizza Puffs,' which are similar in nature to empanadas -- and are filled with cheese, sausage and tomato sauce, were my first love. It was the handheld food that I earned after a well-behaved day at school -- though it wasn't something that I was allowed to have too often because it was deep-fried.

"Then, there were the 'meat pies,' a Ghanaian-style empanada-like creation. My father, who was born in the capital city Accra, introduced the meat or tuna-filled pastry shells to me when I was entering my adolescent years. It was an appetizer that we enjoyed prior to a bigger meal when we were dining at Ghanaian restaurants. It wasn't until I was in high-school, however, that I had what was actually known as an 'empanada,' and I became further familiar with it in college, as a friend would often prepare it for me. Finally, when I came to New York, I was introduced to the Jamaican-style 'beef patty.' So, for me, empanadas are a simple food with a complex history, and it carries much more cultural history than I'd ever imagined, and it's just... really good." -- said our Studies and Statistics Editor, Nicole Thompson.

"For me empanadas always meant Sundays. After church we'd pick up tacos and pan dulce.  Everyone had their go-to pastry from the panaderia, but we all always agreed on empanadas. They were the sweet kind (filled with pineapple, pumpkin, strawberry and even guava) and some had a flaky crust, while others were more bread-like and made with anise.  And always with hot chocolate or a glass of milk." -- said our Social Media Strategist, Bonnie Martinez.

"Empanadas, or pastelitos, are a large part of Dominican culture. I remember going to the park during the summer and two empanadas with a drink for 3 dollars. We also give them out during parties and family get-togethers. My favorites have always been the empanadas with cheese or chicken." -- said our Office Manager, Melissa Caba.

"Empanadas have always played a huge part in my family (and culture's) traditions. When I was younger, my abuelita would make empanadas for special occasions like El 18 (Chilean Independence Day) and birthdays. In Chile, empanadas are a bit bigger than the ones we ate today. Typically they're meat filled, but are much sweeter than the ones that are common to other Latinos. Chilean empanadas have raisins and hard boiled eggs, and a sweeter meat combination (at least the ones my grandma made). Of course there are a bunch of other empanadas that are popular, including my favorite--shrimp and cheese. -- said our U.S. Section Editor, Nicole Rojas. 

"Empanadas reminded me of home, when I was living in Boston. I attended Boston University and used to go to Izzy's Restaurant and Sub Shop with my friends in undergrad. You can't find food like empanadas living near Fenway Park or Brighton, or Allston, so you had to really go out of the way to find 'home cooking' and Izzy's was the closest place to where lived.

"I would buy an empanada to take home, either for my girlfriend at the time or as snack, to hang on to some 'home cooking' until I returned to Brooklyn for the holidays or went back to Izzy's. Weirdly enough, I'll always associate empanadas as a connection to Brooklyn while doing time in Boston." -- said our Assistant Sports Editor, Ed Molina.