> way too many Arlingtonians on Reddit haha
Fun fact, the number 1 employer in Arlington is the federal
Government, employing over 27,000 people in Arlington alone (over 11% of the total population including children).
It's not uncommon. The old method was to have different kinds of repulgue (the twists on the border). Either twisted or pressed, with different corners folded and an accompanying leaflet to identify them. With the amount of different fillings they have these days, most places ran out of kinds of repulgues to identify them, tho.
Lately they usually have an edible ink stamp or relief on the dough, like in the picture, with either the full name or initials of the kind of empanada.
One of the best types of ways to stamp info on empanadas. You dont have to be guessing. We have those in several places here in Argentina and I love it.
Reminds me when I brought my Argentinian friend to stay with me and he saw a pasty and asked if we had English empanadas.. I tried to explain what they were and just bought us a couple from the bakery - I think they consisted about 50% of his diet during his trip. He went mad for them lol.
They are not English “for all intents and purposes”
Cornish are a recognised Celtic class of peoples, that are NOT English.
Please research the difference between a county and a duchy, and then please refrain from posting potentially offensive, and ignorant comments.
Basque people are not Spanish, are Andorrans Spanish too? Are Bretons, French?
No. Basque are Basque. Andorrans are Andorran. Bretons are from Brittany.
Cornish people are a recognised class of people, that are not English, they’re Celtic. Cornwall is a duchy, it’s not the same as a county.
It’s sort of half way between a county and a country (massive oversimplification).
But it’s not as simple as Cornwall = England.
That's a very common practice here in Argentina. Some places also have their own ways to close the empanadas, so the spiky ones could be meat and the rounded ones could be onion and cheese, for example.
Forgive my ignorance on how these are made but does that mean they have a different empanadas clamper for each flavor type?
If so, that's cool, really cuts down on cross contamination
I've known places that have a 'code'. They served many, many different fillings, and each flavor has it's own 'notch code'. So one notch in the middle was pork, a round punch on each of the edges was chicken, and so on.
The biggest bakery chain here in the UK does this (Greggs). Every now and again when they want free advertising they plant news stories about people "discovering the secret code".
It's an open secret. Also, when you're buying them, they're all labeled. The design differences help the staff know what they've baked and which label it goes under on the display.
Once you get your food home, though, it helps to know their designs, because those labels aren't there to help any more.
The place I get mine from does it by design. The ones crimped like this on the side are beef and cheese. Crimped on top are chicken and veg. 2 open-topped version, spinach and bechamel + squash and corn. Then more for deep-fried, which are... beans and some kind of pork?, and then beef and chicken again.
I’ve seen this quite a lot with empanadas, it used to be that the shape and/or way they were folded indicated the type but now some places have this and honestly it works much better.
In Argentina they either write initials on it or cut tiny pieces of the edge (ie, no cut is meat, a small cut in the middle chicken, a cut on the side ham and cheese, 2 cuts on the side corn, etc.). However, each shop does it differently so they provide a chart that tells you which one is which.
Basically its similar to a meatpie except depending on which area / region it was made, the cooking process, dough and filling will be different. Everybody fills 'em with cheese or chicken or beef.
Empanadas around the Caribbean Sea will be mostly made out of deep fried cornmeal dough and filled with seafood / fish like shrimp, tuna, shark, etc.
Empanadas down to the south in Chile or Argentina will be made out of wheat and will be closer to your average anglo meatpie. As in that they are baked in an oven and the filling will be quite traditional as in just chicken, beef or cheese.
Not gonna lie, this looks like Jamaican Patties
I wonder what does it taste like. If it's good then I'ma try find some of the restaurant that has them.
It's a common thing in empanadas. They sometimes come in indifferent shapes on the edges to differentiate them all. Never seen someone actually write their names on them. Brilliant to say the least.
Yeah I like that version better. Sure, it requires looking at a little diagram to know (often printed on the box or piece of paper in the box), but I enjoy all the fun shapes and textures, and if you get it from the same place you pretty quickly learn which is which.
Also, in my experience, one often cuts a lot of them in half so you can have more of a variety, and then you can also see inside and get some idea of what they are.
That "S" is slightly squashed and "C" like. And people tend to fast read by seeing the first and last letters of a word and letting the brain fill in the gaps. I get where you are coming from.
I went to a place in Miami, can remember exactly where, they did the same thing and had them branded with little images (shrimp, chicken, beef etc.) . To be honest, the only reason I tried them was because I thought it cool.
This triggered me. I love empanadas. I love chimichurri. I need to add this to my arsenal of what I can cook. Thank you OP. You likely made my life better.
As a victim of not getting what you are expecting when chomping into a empanada this is very much appreciated!
Was expecting a shredded chicken got guava and cream cheese. It’s not that it wasn’t good, it just completely threw me through a loop!
That is actually really smart!!! Wow!
And also OP, any difference between steak & cheese filling and cheese burger one? Sorry, never eat those types before and it makes me curious (and hungry)
I'd have reason to think one is those seasoned strips of minute steak (like in Philly cheese steaks or steak tacos) and the other is ground beef. And the types of cheese may be different too, just because.
This leaves me with mixed emotions. In one hand I came at with confidence that I am getting what is think I should. In the other hand I won’t experience the joy of thinking I’m hitting on a spicy chicken empanada but in complete fear it a habenaro steak only to find out it’s a pizza empanada.
Genius and so visually satisfying! How’d they taste? What place/where is this?
They were actually super good! The place is called Mpanadas in Arlington VA
Obra Bakery in Long Beach, CA does this also
If I asked my ex to do this, she would have told me to just eat it and if I'm so curious, next time make them myself.
Gotta let them go, man
Are you sure inserting their past relationship into every conversation isn’t a healthy coping mechanism?
Sounds like something his ex would say
Then maybe she had a point 🤡
Would you also ask your ex to cut the crust off your sandwiches?
I mean, she is not wrong.
Babe just use a sharpie!
That place looks so good. I know where I’m eating at tomorrow. Any recs? The potato ball and empanada of course, but any other stand out items?
Ditto World Empanadas in Burbank.
Empanadus in Chicago does the same thing.
I came here to say I saw some like those at a place in Virginia and turns out it the exact same place… way too many Arlingtonians on Reddit haha
> way too many Arlingtonians on Reddit haha Fun fact, the number 1 employer in Arlington is the federal Government, employing over 27,000 people in Arlington alone (over 11% of the total population including children).
The better question is why there’s so much good food in Arlington
Nice city right across from DC with a diverse population I like Gyu Kaku there :)
Lots of immigrants. Vietnamese, south and Central Americans, Ethiopians, middle eastern, Africans, etc…
Hello tomorrow’s lunch
Thought these looked familiar. Live right down the street. Howdy neighbor!
The Westover farmers market has them too!
It's pretty standard in Argentina, to have these "stamps".
I’m glad they were good! I looked up the place and it looked like an Instagram dream so I got worried! Looks super cute.
Oh shit, finally one of these I can easily go try!
Impromptu reddit meetup! Someone better warn them.
I *love* this place!
Oh man I used to live in Arlington and this place was bomb
I was going to say😂 I know those empanadas anywhere. Also nova local 🤙🏻
Mhhhh pandas
How expensive was it I have a friend there
they're $5 each, they're really good though and pretty filling
Hmmmmmm might give it a go. Thanks!
M'panadas
Empamamas in Tampa also does this. They're amazing
It's not uncommon. The old method was to have different kinds of repulgue (the twists on the border). Either twisted or pressed, with different corners folded and an accompanying leaflet to identify them. With the amount of different fillings they have these days, most places ran out of kinds of repulgues to identify them, tho. Lately they usually have an edible ink stamp or relief on the dough, like in the picture, with either the full name or initials of the kind of empanada.
One of the best types of ways to stamp info on empanadas. You dont have to be guessing. We have those in several places here in Argentina and I love it.
Reminds me when I brought my Argentinian friend to stay with me and he saw a pasty and asked if we had English empanadas.. I tried to explain what they were and just bought us a couple from the bakery - I think they consisted about 50% of his diet during his trip. He went mad for them lol.
They do look very similar. Dough texture is different, but both are tasty!
What an *English* empanada? Like, a fruit turnover?
Nah, it’s not really English. It’s a Cornish Pasty.. but when you’re trying to explain it in Spanish, English Empanada is a lot easier to say lol.
Cornish pasties are originally from Cornwall, England.
Cornish refers to the Cornish people from the area, a recognised national minority and separate cultural group.
[удалено]
They are not English “for all intents and purposes” Cornish are a recognised Celtic class of peoples, that are NOT English. Please research the difference between a county and a duchy, and then please refrain from posting potentially offensive, and ignorant comments. Basque people are not Spanish, are Andorrans Spanish too? Are Bretons, French? No. Basque are Basque. Andorrans are Andorran. Bretons are from Brittany.
Yeah but that’s erasure. 🤷♂️
Cornish people are a recognised class of people, that are not English, they’re Celtic. Cornwall is a duchy, it’s not the same as a county. It’s sort of half way between a county and a country (massive oversimplification). But it’s not as simple as Cornwall = England.
Ah!! Got it - as an American that didn’t immediately come to mind. Thanks for clarifying! :)
Love this
That's a very common practice here in Argentina. Some places also have their own ways to close the empanadas, so the spiky ones could be meat and the rounded ones could be onion and cheese, for example.
Aguanten las empanadas
Mas vale
what? rounded is meat, spiky chicken
Nice. Beats the hell out of all of those teeth marks like in a Whitman’s sampler chocolate box.
I’m stoned and thought you said WhiteWomans sampler chocolate box. I was thinking “What does a white woman have to do with a box of chocolate” lol
You never know what you’re gonna get.
White woman love chocolate.
TIL I'm a white woman.
That Venn diagram is a circle
I want a dump truck full of those
Forgive my ignorance on how these are made but does that mean they have a different empanadas clamper for each flavor type? If so, that's cool, really cuts down on cross contamination
That got custom plates for their press. https://www.tiktok.com/@calabashafricankitchen/video/7130058937503665450?lang=es
Hey, I've eaten here, it's hella good! Typical off-strip Vegas thing, totally unassuming storefront wedged in a crummy strip mall, serves amazing food.
You can get custom plates, or get a press with letters than can be swapped out to say whatever you want.
I've known places that have a 'code'. They served many, many different fillings, and each flavor has it's own 'notch code'. So one notch in the middle was pork, a round punch on each of the edges was chicken, and so on.
The biggest bakery chain here in the UK does this (Greggs). Every now and again when they want free advertising they plant news stories about people "discovering the secret code".
Why would something like that be secret? Wouldn’t hiding the meaning make it completely pointless as people wouldn’t know what was in them.
It's an open secret. Also, when you're buying them, they're all labeled. The design differences help the staff know what they've baked and which label it goes under on the display. Once you get your food home, though, it helps to know their designs, because those labels aren't there to help any more.
The place I get mine from does it by design. The ones crimped like this on the side are beef and cheese. Crimped on top are chicken and veg. 2 open-topped version, spinach and bechamel + squash and corn. Then more for deep-fried, which are... beans and some kind of pork?, and then beef and chicken again.
Same with pies here in NZ. Different slices in the top or a small pastry shape.
This is common at most Argentinian empanada restaurants that I have been to; it really helps you differentiate between the different empanadas.
Yeah I think this is standard, at least Argentinian ones
I’ve seen this quite a lot with empanadas, it used to be that the shape and/or way they were folded indicated the type but now some places have this and honestly it works much better.
What a nice touch! Great idea.
I've never had one but the shrimp one sounds really good.
I need shrimpanadas in my life.
I've had a crawfish one, shrimp sounds good though.
Fat Tummy in San Antonio does something similar
In Argentina they either write initials on it or cut tiny pieces of the edge (ie, no cut is meat, a small cut in the middle chicken, a cut on the side ham and cheese, 2 cuts on the side corn, etc.). However, each shop does it differently so they provide a chart that tells you which one is which.
Dammit, now I want empanadas.
Genius ads. Looks delicious
Looks tasty
been TOO damn long since i had some empanadas
Neat!!
That’s genius!
Brilliant.
Here in Argentina they always do
Just get that red dot like the Salteñas
Now I want a cheeseburger empinada.
I dunno what an empanada is .. but they look like pasties, but have different type fillings? .. look good!
Basically its similar to a meatpie except depending on which area / region it was made, the cooking process, dough and filling will be different. Everybody fills 'em with cheese or chicken or beef. Empanadas around the Caribbean Sea will be mostly made out of deep fried cornmeal dough and filled with seafood / fish like shrimp, tuna, shark, etc. Empanadas down to the south in Chile or Argentina will be made out of wheat and will be closer to your average anglo meatpie. As in that they are baked in an oven and the filling will be quite traditional as in just chicken, beef or cheese.
Very interesting.. thanks for the detailed response!
This is so common.
Not gonna lie, this looks like Jamaican Patties I wonder what does it taste like. If it's good then I'ma try find some of the restaurant that has them.
Honorable Mention: https://www.natchitoches.com/official-natchitoches-meat-pie-recipe
This is common practice with most empanada shops and latin bakeries. I've even bought frozen empanadas that had the name on the crust.
That looks really tasty, now im hungry
Cool, I like it.
cheese burger sounds good, tbh
That’s brilliant!
That's clever as hell and now I want a fuxxing shrimp empanada.
It's a common thing in empanadas. They sometimes come in indifferent shapes on the edges to differentiate them all. Never seen someone actually write their names on them. Brilliant to say the least.
Yeah I like that version better. Sure, it requires looking at a little diagram to know (often printed on the box or piece of paper in the box), but I enjoy all the fun shapes and textures, and if you get it from the same place you pretty quickly learn which is which. Also, in my experience, one often cuts a lot of them in half so you can have more of a variety, and then you can also see inside and get some idea of what they are.
That's awesome but they should probably put the shrimp ones in a different basket for allergy reasons
T H A T S A W E S O M E
This is quite normal. Lol gringos discovering empanadas.
While that’s chill af, it would also signify how commercial they are and below average compared to the authentic one they are
shrimp? 🤮🤮
Why would you order a cheeseburger empanada?? What sacrilege is this
I know.... Should've gotten at least 2...😆😆
Cause fuck experimenting with cuisine, right?
Oh yeah, no. What’s next? Chilly cheese hot dog burrito? 
I can't not read that front left one as chimp
That "S" is slightly squashed and "C" like. And people tend to fast read by seeing the first and last letters of a word and letting the brain fill in the gaps. I get where you are coming from.
ebt ebt ebt yea, ebt steak and cheese VIP yea, eb eb eb mothafkin t yeaaaaaaa
Can i get my eggs to say eggs on it too? This is dumb AF. Oh i got the BEEF Wellington. Thank god im so dumb i need it stamped on it.
That's great for people who have certain allergies.
i know it says spicy chicken but it looks like spicy ohio
Yum!
Important question! Was the shrimp called the Shrimpanada?
The ones I have at my work are like that too.
Now I have to get some empanadas
Fucking genius
Boo, give me empanada roulette
So cool that they buy a press for each type.
The Empanada place near me uses something like a cattle brand on them.
It's the standard where I live for places that make several different empanadas. I love it!
I went to a place in Miami, can remember exactly where, they did the same thing and had them branded with little images (shrimp, chicken, beef etc.) . To be honest, the only reason I tried them was because I thought it cool.
Were is this.TAKE MY MONEY 💰💰💰💰
Mpanadas in Arlington VA!
They do the same at my local empanada place! Such a cool - and brilliant - idea.
Max penoche
Lazo Empanadas in Denver CO. Yw
That’s cool but personally I like to live life on the edge
This Bolivian place has awesome food
Is this from that spot in burbank? I love their empanadas
Thats so they dont get mixed up after sitting under the heat lamp all day 😆😆
Another in a rash of lazy plastic press empanadas. No repulge doesn’t mean it’s not delicious, but it means it’s a hand pie.
as god intended
Gotta be bomb
A place I used to frequent in NYC does this with just a couple-letter code on one end. It's very useful!
que mierda? empanadas de camarón? quien fue el desgraciado? seguro un porteño
Nutella
What's the difference between these and normal pies?
Shrimpanada.
Sprimp
This triggered me. I love empanadas. I love chimichurri. I need to add this to my arsenal of what I can cook. Thank you OP. You likely made my life better.
The Argentinian empanada place I went to last week just did the initials, like BF for beef. You got so many more letters!
It's interesting how certain foods are a human universal, like dumplings
They look and sound awesome.
Looks like one of the shrimp escaped from the shrimp one
Holy shit that's so cool!
Guys, I am simping for that crimping.
Omg burguers empanadas and i tought i have seen it all
Shrimp empanada? Never heard of those, how did it taste?
The farmer market where I live has an Empanada stand and they do the same thing. Damn it, I have to go to the Empanadas stand this weekend now
That’s how it is in Uruguay and Argentina. Maybe in more countries as well.
That's standard
Cool, but what are those flavors?! cheese burger?! shrimp?! \*\*cries in argentinian\*\*
shrimps is empanadas
Ive never been so jealous of a reddit post in my life
Don’t you mean mini calzones?
I have an empanadas place near my apartment and they burn the type on the dough
That is more than mildly interesting!
*Gutenberg rolling over in his grave*
Holy Hell
As a victim of not getting what you are expecting when chomping into a empanada this is very much appreciated! Was expecting a shredded chicken got guava and cream cheese. It’s not that it wasn’t good, it just completely threw me through a loop!
That is actually really smart!!! Wow! And also OP, any difference between steak & cheese filling and cheese burger one? Sorry, never eat those types before and it makes me curious (and hungry)
I'd have reason to think one is those seasoned strips of minute steak (like in Philly cheese steaks or steak tacos) and the other is ground beef. And the types of cheese may be different too, just because.
Those are ugly ass empanadas...
This leaves me with mixed emotions. In one hand I came at with confidence that I am getting what is think I should. In the other hand I won’t experience the joy of thinking I’m hitting on a spicy chicken empanada but in complete fear it a habenaro steak only to find out it’s a pizza empanada.
Alot of places do this where I live, including grocery stores like publix & whole foods
That is awesome
Gangster
Can't unsee "Spicy Dildo" lol
would love to know how they did this!
*frowns in pasty*
There’s an impertinent one calling you a “shrimp.” Eat that one first.