In the Portico of Glory of the Cathedral of Santiago there is a representation of hell where a person condemned for the sin of gluttony appears. Can you guess what he eats? Well, a tasty empanada! It couldn't be anything else because this seemingly simple preparation, based on dough, filling and sofrito (zaragallada or amoado), has been an institution in Galicia for centuries. “Their presence on the porch tells us that at least in 1188 they were already eating them and they were so delicious that they were a sin,” explains the Galician journalist and gastronome Jorge Guitián, who is finalizing a book on empanadas with the publishing house Libros con Miga together with gourmet Anna Mayer.
Although many of us have it associated with industrial puff pastries filled with canned tuna with enormous quantities of poorly poached onion, "there is an immense diversity of tasty and easy-to-make preparations, with multiple combinations of ingredients and types of dough, different in each region,” Guitián tells us, the most appropriate person with whom to discover the 12 mistakes we make when we make a Galician empanada at home.
Álvaro Cunqueiro said that almost anything can be breaded, although the most expensive fillings (octopus, scallops...) are associated with festive days of gastronomic enjoyment, and the simpler ones (chorizo or sardines) are associated with everyday dishes. But can we mix sardines with cheese? Can you make an empanada for dessert? And a vegetarian? Is the filling or the dough more important? Should the dough be thin or thick? How should the edges be sealed? Is onion important?
“As with pizza or coca, the key to a good empanada is the dough,” explains Galician journalist and gastronome Jorge Guitián. “With a well-made dough, without excess fat or unnecessary ingredients, almost any filling, no matter how simple, will work well, while if it is bad, brittle or very dry, even if you put a lobster with truffles in it, you will fail,” the expert tells us.
In his research for his book on empanadas that will be published next year, he has discovered a world of traditional doughs. “On the western coast of Galicia it is common to use corn flour, which is denser and more consistent than wheat flour. The wheat one is the most widespread and the easiest to make at home,” says the journalist, who lives in Santiago de Compostela, where it is common to find for sale the typical empanada made with puff pastry and canned tuna, which they usually consume. students and tourists. “In Galicia we consider them a shortcut, an easy and economical way to make empanada, because this type of flaky dough, which here we call pasta foliada, is neither artisanal nor traditional, except for a version from the Cantabrian area filled with fresh tuna or other ingredients, which is called pastelón.”
At the La Viuda hostel, in A Pobra de Trives, in the central massif of Ourense, Anxo Trives receives visitors only to try the artisanal dough typical of the region that it makes. They call it puff pastry without being so because the final result has a tendency to open into sheets or microlayers. An ancient and simple version of the empanada, made with wheat, although in this area the less refined rye was previously used a lot. “The most important thing about the empanada is the dough, working with quality flour, because as its name indicates, “in an empanada the important thing is the bread,” he tells us.
When we use flour to make the empanada, there is one mistake that we can never make: overdoing it with the oil. The dough should never be left waterlogged because it would become a heavy cake, difficult to eat. “It must have the right amount to achieve the appropriate texture in the oven,” says Gutián, and reminds us that flour, in addition to water and salt, will almost always need some lipid because “we must provide it with moisture, elasticity and delicacy or When you bake it, it will be hard like a cookie.”
Determining to what extent you enrich the dough “with oil or other fats will depend on the recipe,” says the expert, who in his gastronomic journey has found empanadas made with butter, clarified butter or lard. “Lard works with sweet empanadas,” he notes. In some preparations, part of the oil in which the sauce was made is incorporated to give it more flavor. Or you can even add white wine, brandy, milk, cream, or beer. Some contain egg to hold them together and not be too brittle.
Excess oil must also be controlled when preparing the sauce. “Once done, it should rest for a while to check if we have any extra oil so we can drain it.” It is the way to make the empanada juicy, well-bound and just right.
There are multiple variations when it comes to dough, but not only in the preparation technique, but also in terms of size and thickness. In this sense, it is important to take into account what filling we are going to use to decide the dough that will contain it. “If you are going to make it with sardines or xoubas it can be thin, but if you make one with beef stew, the dough will have to be thicker,” says journalist Jorge Guitián, who also collaborates with COMER La Vanguardia.
The expert, who has seen them measuring 2 mm and even 3 cm, points out that corn dough, very common on the Galician coast, is more limited with fillings: “It only accepts seafood products with a certain amount of fat, such as sardines.” ”. On the other hand, wheat, which is the most popular, "is much more versatile and goes well with almost everything, a stew can handle it well." If you are looking for originality you can make it with rye, which traditionally went perfectly with sausage or mixed vegetables. “Today they have retreated because climate change has reduced rye planting in Galicia.”
Empanada doughs can be fermented but there are also unfermented ones. If it has fermentation, it is important that it rests for a period of time to allow it to relax, and if it does not, “you have to try not to beat it too much or it will be hard as a stone,” says Guitián, who advises always treating them with great care, “ although with some firmness. It takes experience and time.”
Some doughs even undergo double fermentation, and some are also made with yeast, oil or sourdough. “You have to work them, collect them in the shape of a bun and leave them in a warm place so that they grow a little and develop the gluten weave, something essential so that there is a homogeneous dough that you can then spread easily,” he advises. If you work it too quickly you may end up with “a trapped dough, meaning the crumb will not develop well.”
In doughs that are not very fermented, adding egg serves to bind them together and give them consistency, making them not so brittle. “When the egg sets in the oven, it keeps everything in its place,” says Guitián.
"We cannot treat all the fillings the same, because there are ingredients that work raw, such as sardines, which are delicate and over time the dough is baked, they are overcooked, and others such as beef stew or marinated ribs, that require prior preparation,” says Guitián. “In the south of Pontevedra they make one with a whole chicken, which you either cook it a little before or it will be raw.”
The meat for the filling is better if it is juicy. If it is lean, the journalist advises marinating it first. “For example, a pork loin, here called raxo, is usually marinated with white wine, spices and paprika for 24 hours; Or you can cut it thinly and add a layer of bacon pieces on top to make it creamy.”
The canned tuna filling is one of the most widespread. The journalist has found references to this empanada in the last 30 years, “when tuna and boiled egg were served at Santiago festivities,” and he remembers how in his house, when he was little, it was made of this type because it was simple and economical, with a base of poached onion, mixing the tuna with chopped egg and olive to enrich it. “Adding egg, bacon, ham, chorizo or potato is a resource to lengthen the filling if the main ingredient is very expensive.”
Nowadays it is easy to find tuna empanadas that are not artisanal in many places "because it is a cheap way to make them, with a can of quilo you can get quite a lot, and since they are appetizing, they have a lot of sales."
Anxo Trives in his restaurant (in the hostel his grandmother founded 70 years ago), makes them with tuna that he preserves himself. Trained in the kitchens of Santi Santamaria, he is part of the cociña Ourense group, which aims to publicize the cuisine of the interior of Galicia.
If you want to make an authentic empanada you should never put cheese on it,” Guitián tells us. Because? Well, because dairy products are not common products in Galician cuisine. "In some restaurants they have been made with octopus and cheese, but they are innovations, since in Galicia cheese was only consumed fresh and in season, it was not used for cooking." From here on, the possibilities and combination of ingredients are immense, but you have to rely on logic and unwritten rules: “For example, if the main filling is seafood you can flavor it with bay leaf, but if it has sausages it is not.” you put". It is pure tradition, and tradition is wise.
Among the countless associations we can mention the cod empanada with raisins, the sardine empanada with ham, the rabbit empanada with anise, the chorizo and bacon empanada and also the tuna empanada, green olives and boiled egg, which was already documented by the anthropologist Xaquín Lorenzo. in the 30s of the 20th century. “Cockles are popular on the coast, even combined with expensive products such as seafood and clams.”
The journalist explains that the empanada is so eclectic and popular that it is understood equally by humble elements and by sybarites. "Traditionally the daily one had more bread and a simple ingredient, and the festive one could even be made with spider crab."
Well no. The empanada is not just a main dish. We can also make delicious desserts following your recipe. Jorge Guitián cites sweet empanadas with pears and walnuts, angel hair, raisins and walnuts, pastry cream, butter with sugar or even flan. And of course, apple, which can be combined with blackberries, raisins or brandy.
The most common thing is to find empanadas filled with seafood on the coast (blue fish, cod, mussels, octopus, scallops, clams, razor clams, squid, turbot, hake, crab...) and inside meats (stewed beef or pork). , ham, bacon, lacon, wild boar, partridge, chorizo, marinated ribs, rabbit, chicken...), also some freshwater fish and occasionally vegetables, which are little known and very interesting.
A big mistake would be to think that you cannot make a vegetable empanada, or combine vegetables with other ingredients. “In the area bordering Bierzo, they are made with vegetables, vegetables with potatoes, potato and chard is very common, which is a very interesting rarity,” says Guitián, who also tells us about the modern hake empanada with seaweed (“works very well with corn dough”), and turnip top dough.
In the mountainous area of Ourense, near León and Zamora, Anxo Trives offers a good outlet for cod, bonito and beef, all made with local products. “We are in the last stronghold of traditional livestock farming left in Galicia, here the beef is part of the family.”
“My uncle calls the empanada that has too much onion, the lovers' empanada because with you, bread and onion, that is, since I love you, poverty doesn't matter to me,” says Jorge Guitián to make it clear to us that if you put too much, The result will only taste like onions and will give the sensation that you want to put less meat or fish and thus reduce the cost.”
Therefore, we must use a moderate amount, which we will slowly poach in olive oil, as in sautéing rice. "The onion has to provide flavor, moisture and a touch of sweetness, but it is not the star ingredient." A trick: if we make the tuna empanada in oil or pickled mussels, “we can use a little of the juice from the preserve.”
The gourmet from A Coruña indicates that the sofrito usually includes, in addition to the onion, usually red pepper, sometimes tomato, and depending on the recipe, also parsley, saffron, chopped green olive, paprika, garlic, white wine or some vegetables. It must be prepared slowly, and do not forget that it must rest a little. We should never add them hot to the main ingredient “because if you have too much oil there is no going back,” he points out. “When the oil rests, it separates from the solid ingredient and we will easily see the excess.”
As the variety of empanadas is so great, there are still some more primitive ones that do not have any sauce, (such as the marinated loin), or raw sauces, like the one Anxo makes at the La Viuda de Trives hostel. Chop onion, pepper and tomato, season with good virgin olive oil, mix with the main ingredient and bake with the dough. “The flavor of onion is more intense, but here we are used to it.”
“Like all simple dishes, the empanada must be balanced, with a fair proportion of filling,” says Guitián. In Galicia they place it and spread it on the dough manually, although you can also use a spoon. “If we go too far with the thickness of the filling, the bite will not be easy, the bite will fall apart and we will also lose the flavor of the dough that you have worked so hard for,” explains the journalist. And if you add too little, you will not fully appreciate the flavors of the main product and the empanada will not be juicy enough.
The breadth of the empanada also varies depending on the areas or customs. “There are them the size of a plate and also the size of a car wheel,” explains Gutián, who advises making it at home with the oven tray, although round molds also work very well. “If you make it too small, you will probably end up with a lot of dough and little filling, and something that is too big is not acceptable in a domestic kitchen.”
The largest ones are made in pastry ovens. In Galicia it is common to buy the dough at the bakery, make the empanada at home and take it back to the baker to bake it. “It enhances neighborhood life and the result is very tasty.”
We cannot forget to seal the edges of the empanada. “It is important to close it so that the filling liquid does not escape,” says Guitián. The most common way to do it is by braiding the edges with a very typical Galician filigree, which is easily done by hand. "It takes about 30 seconds and in this way we get the ingredients to cook in their own juice, we create a bread chamber where the steam aromatizes the dough from within."
But be careful, because the sealing turns the empanada into a real pressure cooker. You must close it well but keep in mind that the steam needs an outlet. “It is enough to prick the surface with a fork, although you can also make a hole in the center so that it works as a small chimney and can breathe a little.”
But in the world of empanadas there is everything, like in a pharmacy, and that is why we also find some open. For example, the one Anxo does. It doesn't seal it, it's like a sandwich that breathes through all the edges, but in its case the ingredients don't overflow because they don't have sofrito and are well coated with oil.
The next step is baking. “Cooking in the oven is a fundamental part of making the empanada,” says Anxo Trives, who places it in the center so that it cooks well on all sides. “You have to avoid it being raw from the bottom or the top.”
The time and temperature varies depending on the type, filling and size of the empanada, although it ranges around an hour with a temperature of 180-200 degrees, never excessively high: “If you go too far it will overcook and if you overcook it, short is not done well on the inside.” For Guitián, baking is like baking bread, “you need a medium-high temperature to give the dough time to grow and develop.” He agrees with the chef that the best oven for cooking is the traditional wood-burning oven, which is now making a comeback. “The flavor is incredible,” says Anxo: “The traditional village ovens are impressive, the temperature is measured with a stone. When it turns white, it's ready."
To get the crispiest and brightest topping, “we can paint it with oil and beaten egg before putting it in the oven,” says Guitián, and reminds us that the empanada is never fried in a pan. “That's only when it's made in a dumpling format.”
An empanada must have body, crumb and crust. “The dough should not be homogeneous and spongy because it is not a sponge cake,” says Guitián. To achieve a good result it is important to check how the cooking is going while it is in the oven. The trick of sticking with a toothpick doesn't work because we'll probably reach the filling and take it out wet. The most appropriate thing is to see the color it takes and hit it with your finger. “If the sound is like hitting a sponge, it is not finished. “It should sound like you are hitting cardboard.”
Once finished, “we should not eat it immediately, it is better to wait at least 20 minutes so that it loses temperature and locks well, without spilling,” explains the journalist. "Also so as not to burn yourself when taking it with your hands, which is how it is traditionally enjoyed, although in many restaurants they serve it with cutlery."
The empanada can be eaten cold, even waiting a day to eat it depending on the amount of oil it contains, although after the first 24 hours the dough begins to suffer. If we have to store it, "it is better at room temperature, covered with kitchen paper, than in the cold of the refrigerator because it picks up too much moisture."
