I’ve talked before about my Argentine heritage and one of my closest ties to that heritage is food. Growing up my mom cooked meals from many different cuisines but my favorite were always her family recipes from Argentina. Those mainly included a killer paella, empanadas, and alfajores with homemade dulce de leche. Everything was made from scratch, of course. From my mom’s perspective, lord have mercy on those who used store bought anything.
Empanadas were my favorite of the lot and they remain my favorite food. Not empanadas generally, my mom’s empanadas. It’s partially because they make me feel the safety and love of childhood and partly because they’re delicious.
Although I loved eating empanadas as a kid, I hated making them. It’s a many hour process that includes thinning the dough up to four different times, cutting, stuffing, and baking. Not to mention making the different fillings.
Now that I’m older and wiser I cherish being able to spend that time with my family. Though I’m still pretty possessive over the empanadas. We slaved over them after all!
What foods are traditional in your family?