Empanadas a la Criolla, Uruguayan Wines, and Upcoming #TannatDay #EattheWorld

It's hard to believe that it's April. This year has flown by so quickly. And, yet, it doesn't really feel as if we've turned a corner on this corona pandemic. Not yet anyway. But, at least in my county here in California, the restrictions are loosening and we're looking at getting more shots in arms. So that, hopefully, the world will actually open back up and we can dust off our passports for some real travel.

Till then, I'm happy to travel by tabletop. Here we are in April for the fourth 2021 installment of our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of CulturEatz. Here's her challenge. 

This month, we are sharing recipes from Uruguay. Here's the #EattheWorld line-up...

• Magical Ingredients: Tortas Fritas 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Torta Frita -Uruguay 
• Pandemonium Noshery: Polvito Uruguayo 
• Palatable Pastime: Grilled Chicken Pinchitos 
• Sugarlovespices: Uruguayan Pancho Hot Dog with Fries on the Side 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Pasta Caruso 
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Empanadas a la Criolla, Uruguayan Wines, and Upcoming #TannatDay
• Kitchen Frau: Torta de Fiambre (Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches)
• Cultureatz: Chaja Cake, an Uruguayan Peach Meringue Layer Cake
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Milanesa Napolitana
• Making Miracles: The Chivito: Uruguay's Iconic Steak & Egg Sandwich 

About Uruguay...

from worldatlas.com

Here are some interesting facts we learned about the country that is the second smallest in all of South America.

• 'Uruguay', in the Guarani language, refers to the Uruguay River and means ‘river of the painted birds’. The river starts in Brazil and ends in the Rio de la Plata Basin which forms the water border between Uruguay and Argentina.
• In Uruguay, cows outnumber people four to one. There are only 3 million people while there are 12 million cattle.
• In 2009, Uruguay became the first country to provide every school-aged child with a free laptop and wifi access.
• Uruguay has one of the highest literacy rates in the world with 98.1% for adults.

Empanadas a la Criolla

Empanada simply means 'wrapped in dough.' And it appears that this is a classic in both Argentinian and Uruguayan cuisines. There are so many empanadas recipes and a diversity of flavors. But a little reading showed that the most well-known Uruguayan version is the Empanada a la Criolla whose main ingredient is spiced meat, onions, and boiled eggs.

Since Jake and I just posted a video on the #CulinaryCam YouTube channel for Empanada Day which was April 8th, I'm going to share that as my recipe for today's event.

For that video, we did an array of empanadas - both sweet and savory - with the same dough. You can get creative with your fillings.  

The Empanada a la Criolla is the same dough and the same filling as the 'carne' without the green olives!

Uruguayan Wines + Upcoming #TannatDay

I was a little sad that this posting comes before the event for Tannat Day in which I'll be writing about three new-to-me wines from Uruguay...along with food pairings. But I will share a few wines that I've poured in the past. Uruguay certainly isn't a country that comes to mind when you first think of wine.  However, the wines that I have tried from there have been spectacular!

Back in 2019, for February 2019's #WinePW event, I poured the Bouza 2016 "B6" Tannat with brined grilled quail. Read that post: here.

And I also poured the Bouza 2017 Albariño with linguine alle vongole. Read that post: here.

As I  mentioned, this post comes ahead of our #TannatDay celebration. But, if you're inclined, you can follow along with a live Twitter chat on Wednesday, April 14th at 2pm Pacific time. Just follow the hashtag #TannatDay and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Cheers!

Well, that's a wrap for the #EattheWorld exploration of Uruguay. Stay tuned for our focus feature for May. I can't wait to find out where we are headed by tabletop.