Argentine Beef Empanadas

Argentine beef empanadas are hand-sized pastry turnovers filled with hand-chopped beef, onion, hard-boiled egg and a whole green olive, sealed along a twisted edge called the repulgue, then baked — or, in the north, fried — until the crust is crisp. They are the dish every region of the country claims as its own, each with a repulgue fold distinctive enough that a cook can often tell where an empanada was made without tasting it.

What it really is

The filling is beef cut by hand rather than minced, so the pieces stay separate instead of clumping, cooked down with onion until soft, seasoned with cumin and a little paprika, then cooled fully before it goes into the dough — hot filling would turn the pastry soggy. A piece of hard-boiled egg and a whole green olive, pit included, go in with it; biting down on the pit unannounced is a rite of passage for a first-timer. The dough is rolled thin, cut into discs, filled, folded in half and pinched shut along the curved edge, and that fold is where regional style shows: Salta's repulgue is small and tight, Tucumán fries rather than bakes, Mendoza's run noticeably larger.

The olive is not decorative. Leaving it out changes the dish for anyone who grew up on it, in much the same way the pit itself is expected rather than treated as a flaw to fix.

How it's served

• A dozen or half-dozen to a plate, as a starter before the asado or a light meal on their own.
• Hot from the oven or fryer, eaten by hand, no cutlery.
• Sometimes with a wedge of lime, rarely with any sauce — the filling carries its own seasoning.

How to write it on the menu

• Specify the filling (carne, pollo, jamón y queso) since "empanadas" alone covers dozens of regional fillings.
• Warn that the olive is left whole with its pit — it's the one bite guests don't expect.
• Say whether they're baked or fried; regulars have a firm preference between the two textures.