Empanadas are made all over the Latin world, but with different and sometimes unique techniques and recipes. For example, in Venezuela and Colombia, empanadas are made with corn meal, salt, water and oil, and they’re fried. In the rest of the central and South American, they’re  made with flour, eggs, lard or butter and water, and they’re baked.

On a resent trip to my home town of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, my brother and sister took me to eat empanadas at the ferry terminal where empanaderos make them 24 hours a day and they’re so delicious. On this particular night, it was my birthday, so after a long night of partying, we got hungry and decided have to some.

Hot and ready to eat

The most famous empanadas are the Argentinian and Chilean versions of this beautiful savory or sweet pastry,  served with different sauces, salsas  and dips depending on where it’s made.

Here in Toronto you can get them in any Latin American food store, but my favorites are made by  Marina Queirolo, owner of Surkl Empanadas. She sells them at The Brickworks Market and the Cheese Boutique.

Here’s my version of a spinach, queso fresco and pine nut empanada, with salsa criolla [spicy-sweet peppers, tomatoes and aji] on Market Mondays on Taste T.O

Happy cooking!

Yours on making Empanadas

Carlos

The President’s Choice 1000 Tastes of Toronto meant that there were more chefs showcasing their food. Luminato also welcomed more artists, musicians, filmmakers and dancers from all over the globe. And let’s not forget Cirque de Soleil, which performed for free for the crowd once the chefs tore down their tables. “One City One Table” was done serving food by 8pm.

With Kelly at our table

My team and I decided to make something simple and great. We went 80 per cent local, as in corn tortillas, queso fresco, onions and greenhouse tomatoes. We made an onion confit and used it as a sweet note. We made a loose coronet with the tortilla and stuffed it with queso fresco, the onion confit and a sexy avocado relish, and we handed to our happy customers in a banana leaf. I’m happy to report that it was a hit with all of our vegetarian friends.

Single tortilla; Vegetarians loved us.

Ready for the crowds

It was great watching people enjoy the food, particularly our groovy organic vessel. Let’s hear it for composting.

Special thanks to Adam McDowell of The National Post for mentioned me in his blog, as his favorite taste that day. It’s good to be notice.

Looking forward to be back next year!!!
Yours from the Luminato.
Carlos

If memory serves, we have to go back to 1998-99, my Xango days. I just moved here from Ottawa, and to get to know the city in the way I enjoy best, I spent my days off eating out to see what other chefs were doing.

Ironically, kitty-corner to Xango was Avalon, Chris MacDonald’s restaurant that held top honours for over a decade. Perhaps many people will disagree with me, but I think it was Chris who was the first to offer his own charcuterie on his menus.

After Avalon closed, a chain reaction started. The young chefs who had worked in MacDonald’s kitchen went on to run some renowned kitchens of their own — and also started making their own charcuterie.

Pat Reilly and Chris Brown did their stuff at Perigee, Scott Woods at Lucien and Doug Penfold at Cava — as MacDonald culinary partner.

Then, at the turn of the century, Jamie Kennedy opened JK, the Rubino brothers opened Rain, and these high-profile chef-owners began putting out their own charcuterie. And the beat went on and continues today. Marc Thuet sells his own prosciutto alongside his great collection of Alsatian goodies.

Just last year, Kennedy imported Boris Coquerl, a French master chef of charcuterie, to produce the cured meats for all the JK restaurants. We have a master of our own here in Ontario. Mario Pingue from Niagara Fall is now the go-to guy for local prosciutto.

At Cava, MacDonald and Penfold make magic, with MacDonald ceremoniously slicing prosciutto at the bar.

On display: Jamon Serrano, foie gras mousse, chorizo and bison bresaola

Over the last year, Michael Steh of Reds has expanded his line of to great lengths.I sat down to his charcuterie platter one night, with no less than 20 items, from mortadella, fois gras a couple of different ways and a selection of flavours from his Slovenian roots. His inventory has nearly doubled since that memorable meal.

Micheal’s charcuterie platter:duck porsciutto, klobasa, house terrine, foie gras paté and more goodies

Scott Vivian does his curing at JK at the Gardiner, and Mark Cutrara chef-owner of Cowbell is strong on curing meats from local producers.

The year’s biggest must-go resto is The Black Hoof, where on any given night after a dinner service, chefs from across town gather to taste their way through a great long list of crazy-good cured meat. And yes, to drink beer and wine, and compare notes about their night.

Chef Grant Van Gamaren and front-of-house partner Jen Agg have really hit the city’s culinary chord. The Black Hoof is all about charcuterie, like no one else in town in.
Hanging with Gamaren one afternoon while heavy deliveries of meat and fois gras kept coming, he told me that his introduction to charcuterie was with Scott Woods at Lucien.

What I liked most about Gramaren was his humility. I’m just a guy who wanted to open a charcuterie and I did, he says matter-of-factly. He also writes about his techniques — successes and failures both — on his blog Charcuterie Sundays, where his kitchen mishaps are there for everyone to see. He clearly doesn’t care. He gets it. We owe most of our learning to trial and error.

Here’s to all the misses that made this great hits

Yours in great charcuterie
Carlos

As the story goes, in more recent history, when Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico in 1519, he found that the avocado was a staple in the native diet and fell in love with it as soon as he tasted it and brought it home. Who wouldn’t have? Because it reminded him of a dessert pear, he ate it with cheese, which is a disturbing notion “ maybe too much of a good thing — but his countrymen were more inclined to season it with salt, pepper and olive oil, like me.

They are many kinds of hybrid avocados all over the world, but the three main strains in the Americas are the Mexican, the West Indian and the Guatemalan. Avocados are also a staple food in the tropical regions of the world. Check out Saveurs handy avocado identifier, to see which one you’ve got ripening in your fruit bowl today.

Although its old news that avocados are being used in cosmetics, producers have recently started marketing organic avocado oil for epicures, a sexy elixir with a ridiculously high flash point [500F], which makes it ideal for high-temperature searing. Chile, Mexico, California, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are revving up their export engines, but chefs aren’t in a big hurry to use them. The flavours too strong. Unless other elements of the dish are going to be a nod to those avocado flavours, this oil tends to get used raw, as a drizzle, where its best qualities and reshness and richness — can be enjoyed.

Olympic Cheese Mart in the St. Lawrence Market sells Chilean and Californian avocado oils [on the main floor, half-way down the left-hand aisle]. At Whole Foods and Brunello Imports.You can find avocado oils under the Pucara, San Pietro and La Tourangelle brands.
And Finally from my repertoire, but inspired by my wife Stephanie.

Annatto pan-seared sea scallops with a salsa made with avocado, apples, cucumbers and mint.

Yours in good food
Carlos

But when the food arrived at the table and the guests took their first few bites, the room fell silent and we could hear the music again. This kind of natural concentration on the food because the flavours were so captivating is exactly the kind of reaction every cook strives for.

The pleasure of cooking is only half of the equation. It’s the pleasure my guests take in eating that seals the deal for me.

Yours in good food

Carlos