Empanada Start Up: By Hand with Heart

Adventure awaits me every time I enter the wondrous world that is San Francisco. To me, the Golden Gate Bridge is a majestic portal to almost anywhere. Each crossing brings me entry to another culinary adventure and new food friends.

This week I had a taste of Colombia, via San Francisco and Maite Catering. Owner Constanza Ortiz and Pastry Chef Martha Martinez began Maite Catering two years ago with the help of the famed La Cocina, a non-profit with a remarkable mission:

“The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. We focus primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities. Our vision is that entrepreneurs will become economically self-sufficient and contribute to a vibrant economy doing what they love to do.
La Cocina is a ground-breaking business incubator designed to reduce the obstacles that often prevent entrepreneurs from creating successful and sustainable small businesses. By providing shared resources and an array of industry-specific services, business incubators ensure small businesses can succeed. La Cocina follows this model by providing commercial kitchen space and technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs who are launching, growing and formalizing food businesses. www.lacocinasf.org“

My “world of flavor” was enhanced with their hands-on lesson for ”Empanadas Colombianas” with both a yellow masa (corn meal) dough for the savory empanadas and a white masa for the sweet empanadas. Both doughs were simple combinations of masa flour, salt or sugar, oil and water. The dough was mixed, kneaded, rested and rolled into small balls and then rolled out in a small piece of plastic wrap to a circle shape. Constanza cooked up savory mixtures of shredded chicken or ground beef with cooked potato, green onions and seasonings for the savory fillings. The sweet filling was a block of guava paste, which is very similar to a membrillo (or quince paste) mixed with mild cheeses. The class rolled and filled their empanadas, learning to use the plastic wrap (or better, plastic baggie) to fold over and seal the dough. We fried the tender pockets quickly in oil and served the savory ones with a fresh guacamole. The dough was crisp outside and tender inside, with a light texture and flavor holding a flavorful surprise inside to the delight of each guest.

Here are the excellent recipes for you to try:

Savory Empanadas Colombianas and the Sweet Empanadas Colombianas

It was truly love at first bite. We could all see and taste how much heart and soul went into each and every aspect of this small but mighty catering company from the warm and wonderful owner, Constanza Ortiz. Try her global small bites at your next event.

Look for more on La Cocina in December as I feature it in my “Year of Thanksgiving, Soul-Full Chefs Series”focusing on the causes, inspirations, personal stories, events, top tips, trends, recipes and techniques that these masters bring to the table for their chosen causes.

You see how it works; I crossed the bridge to a taste of Columbia!

What flavor adventure is next? What world do you seek when you cross that bridge?

 Visit me at www.chefrachelleboucher.com for more recipes, videos and adventure!