Empanada Gallega

Traced to medieval Galicia in northwest Spain — the earliest depiction is on the Pórtico de la Gloria of Santiago de Compostela cathedral (lintels placed 1188 by Master Mateo) — a carving on the right arch of a man with a rope around his neck unable to eat the empanada in his hand, an allegory of the sin of gluttony. The portable bread-pie was a pilgrim and field-laborer food: the crust sealed in juicy filling for transport, and the rectangular tray shape made it easy to cut and share.

The earliest depiction is on the Santiago de Compostela cathedral tympanum, around 1188 — pilgrim and field-laborer food. The 45-minute pimentón sofrito carries the whole pie; under-reduce it and the crust soaks through.

A flat rectangular pie, golden crust crackled across the top, cut in squares. The dough is thinner than a Latin American empanada and more bread-like than pastry — yeasted, faintly oily from olive oil and the filling juices that soak up. Inside: tuna or pork, slow-cooked onions and red peppers in pimentón-stained sofrito. Eat warm or room temp; cold sofrito tastes flat.

The sofrito is load-bearing. Onions and peppers are cooked down for at least 45 minutes until they collapse into a jam — that slow concentration is what carries the pie. The pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika) goes in late so it doesn't burn. A common mistake is wet filling: if the sofrito hasn't been reduced enough, the bottom crust goes soggy and tears when you cut it.