Vincent Tsao

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Empanadas and Fútbol

Vincent Tsao

Empanadas and fútbol are two staples of South America. It would be shameful if I didn't dive into these topics, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and let pictures do the work.

What are empanadas?

Empanadas are delicious pockets of dough sometimes filled with vegetables, often with meat, and always with cheese. If you've traveled in Europe, empanadas are to South America as kebabs are to Europe. They're cheap, fast, delicious, ubiquitous, and wide in variety. In other words, default food for backpackers. Research tells us it takes a month of doing something every day to make it a habit. So is it scientifically called an obsession when it only took one bite to decide I would eat empanadas every day? 

What are the different types of empanadas?

There's three major differences:

  1. Filling- what's inside the empanada. The most important and diverse factor. 
  2. Dough thickness- most empanadas have a higher dough-to-filling ratio. That means dough thickness is critical to overall balance.  
  3. Cooking style- empanadas are traditionally oven-baked. Fried empanadas have a unique dough texture and lower dough thickness.

I found other differences like type of flour, shape, and size to be less relevant to the end criteria of satisfaction. 

Top 5 empanadas I've eaten:

What's fútbol?

There's the literal description here. But in a more abstract sense, it's a way of life in South America. I've had four distinct experiences with 'the beautiful game':

  1. Went to the Argentina-Venezuela game
    I'd been to games in Seattle, but the rules on the field are where the similarities end. There was far more emotion. I split time watching the game and the crowd, and noticed that no one ate or drank during the game. My theory is that Argentinians need their hands to wave in exasperation and their mouths to yell obscenities. People revere Messi as a god, and it sent chills down my spine when the crowd started chanting 'Messi'.

  2. Watched the Argentina-Ecuador game on TV
    I watched with six Argentinians. When Ecuador scored first, there was a lot of staring, pacing, and finger-biting. You could cut the tension with a knife. So when Messi scored a couple minutes later, it was an complete pendulum swing as the room exploded in cheers and back-patting.

  3. Played in a recreational (supposedly) game
    The matchup was Uruguayans vs the Europeans and yours truly. Granted, I haven't played much, but the quality of play was much higher than I expected. It was evident that everyone had a ball at their feet from a young age. And during the game, there wasn't any friendly bantering. These guys played for pride.

  4. Played FIFA with Uruguayans
    I thought I was going to get crushed! Proud to say I held my own with two wins, a tie, and a loss.

Fair to say South America would be a very different place without empanadas and fútbol. After two months down here, I'm starting to phase out the word 'soccer' from my lexicon. And I may not be missing tacos that much after all.