Empanadas Catamarqueñas

Catamarca, a mountainous province in Argentina's northwest, makes empanadas in the northern tradition: knife-cut beef, juicy, spiced with cumin and paprika. What distinguishes the Catamarqueña from its Salta and Tucuman cousins is the occasional use of beef blood in the filling, a practice inherited from the Creole tradition of chanfaina (offal-and-blood stew). The blood enriches the cooking liquid, giving the filling a darker colour and a deeper, iron-rich flavour. The dough is standard wheat-flour-and-fat, the seal is a simple crimp, and the empanadas are baked in clay ovens when available. They are eaten at family gatherings and sold at roadside stands along the mountain roads of the northwest.

Deeply savoury, juicy beef empanadas with a darker, iron-rich filling than other regions, the cumin and paprika warm, the pastry golden and crisp. The blood gives a depth that surprises those who do not expect it.

The technique follows the northern empanada tradition. Beef is hand-diced, seared with onion, cumin, paprika and a small amount of beef blood (optional but traditional in Catamarca), then cooked until juicy. The blood coagulates gently among the meat, enriching the cooking liquid and darkening the filling. The mixture is cooled, eggs and scallion stirred in, then spooned onto dough circles, folded, sealed, glazed with egg, and baked at 220 degrees C. The clay oven gives the best result, but a domestic oven works. The blood is the Catamarca signature, used in small quantity so it enriches without overwhelming.