Vanesa - I have a question for you.....

Yes: you could cook Puchero, Empanadas, Asado, Locro and pancakes with dulce de leche in them.

I now these recipes well (I love to cook), but I'm afraid I can't translate the recipes in a good English. So, I'll saerch some of these on the net, just to see if they are available in English.
Argentina has a great deal of meals, for it's a BIG country with very different landscapes, so meals are diverse too. We have , for sure, the better meat dishes there could be, but also fish dishes (sea fish and catfish) , vegetable dishes, cheeses, goat dishes, etc, etc.

Let me search some good Argentinian menu and let's see.

Now, something easy: making "dulce de leche" (milk jam). We can purchase this already made here, but for you, the only solution is to put a sweetened condensed milk tin into boiling water and allow it to boil (don't open it!) one or two hours (it depends how brown and sweet do you want the jam to be). Then, let the tin to become cold ...DON'T OPEN IT UNTIL IT IS NOT COLD, for you may burn yourself, since the jam would jump until your roof, LOL! This jam is excellent to put into pancakes inestead of honey, syrup or another jam, and also into cakes, pies or even cookies. Tries it! Once you've tasted it, you'll never stop to eat it.

Vanesa.

Hey, Savannah! I just found an excellent site in ENGLISH who explains you al about Argentinian cooking style. You have even an article explaining how our meals are. Go to:

www.marga.org/food/int/argentina

It must be a god advice..since Margarita IS Argentinian.

Vanesa.

Good luck!

I just love food from other countries.

Vanesa!! The milk jam sounds fabulous! That's what we use here for the base of making "Turtle Clusters". It's made with caramel (but if you sweetened condensed milk that's been cooked as you described, it's MUCH tastier!) and chocolate, and pecans.......VERY yummy!

Thank you for helping!

Let us know what you make, Savannah.

My friends grandmother was Greek, and she made Baklava. It was awesome.

Those empanadas sound delicious, I will have to make some!!

Interesting... in El Salvador, the empanadas are sweet, they have the same name but they are different.

I love both of them!

You can read about the different varieties of Empanadas here:

Empanadas

Hi, Carol! What a nice info! And all these Empanadas looks great. I noticed there is a pic of Argentinian Empanadas, so you'll find them easy to do. But there is no a simple "Argentinian Empanada" . The recipe could change from region to region. Fillings are different in everyone of them: you may fill them with cow meat, but also with chicken, and there is a tasteful recipe with cheese and ham inside. I love these last ones. You may play with "Empanadas" and put whatever you likes into them!

And there is also a "sweet recipe" of Empanadas from the north of the country, named "Empanadilla" . They filles them with a pumpkin jam very tasteful and puts sugar frozen over them...You may also fill them with sweet potatoe jam.

I also tried the Brazilian Empanadas when I went to Brazil but in the South og this country, they are similar than our own Empanadas. You my also fill them with any kind of fish...

They are good! I'm hungry!!!!! (Please, Carol! Post some Salvadorean recipes here!

And, Savannah...I hope your "Argentinian dishes" will be a succes. Tell us about how did you cook them and ALL. We are curious! :3gather:

Vanesa.

Oh my gosh, this thread is making me SO hungry. Oh why did I have to be nosy and open a thread that didn't have my name on it??

I know what you mean, Pam. I've been craving empanadas for two days now.

They sound a lot like pasties, a very popular dish in Michigan's upper peninsula. Here's a link...

Pasties

Well, at least I'm not alone, Rob and Lily. :haha:

Yes! You are right. Empanadas ARE Pasties. They cames directly from an English dish. They could be called Pasties, but also Pastries and Bridies. ..since the dish comes to Latin American from English and Scottish people, not from Spanish ones as some should believe.

In Mexico, you will find the "Pastes" who are rounds shaped, as the Pasties you posted, Rob, but also the "Empanadas" who are shaped like Argentina 's and Chilean ones but are littlest than the Pastes. These were bring to Mexico to the mines areas by the English workers who had their job in minning compagnies. And here in my country, they seems to have been brought by the English traders who would come to Buenos Aires port even before independence days...

As for "dulce de leche", it is common in France, even if some of my Argentinians friends cries out we've invented it. It's fake. You may found it under the name of "Confiture de lait" en France ou plainly "Caramel". It's more common in milk regions, as Bretagne , Auvergne , Normandie and Savoye.

But all these are tasteful and this is the important thing!!!

Vanesa.

Oh! I forgotten my por Savannah: "Empanadas" could be shaped as you likes to. We have the "round ones", but if you wants to have a really traditional dish of Argentinian Empanadas for the missionaries, just shape them as it is show in the pic of Wikipedia in the "Argentinian " and "Chilean" Empanadas info. This is the more common among us.

Oh...and just guess what I eated at noon: Empanadas filled with meat, olives, eggs and all!!! Delicious! :woohooo:

Vanesa.

Yes. We put them into Empanadas. But we didn't cal them Spanish Olives. Here they are plainly "green olives". There are Empanadas who have also the black ones into them.

I must said I love both of them...

Vanesa.