Empanadas (Tucumán / Salta)

Tucumán and Salta provinces, northwestern Argentina — descended from Galician and Basque empanada traditions brought by Spanish settlers

Argentine empanadas are hand-sized pastry turnovers with regional identities as distinct as wine appellations — the Tucumán and Salta styles from the northwest representing the country's most technically demanding versions. The Tucumán empanada features a filling of finely diced beef (not ground) with hard-boiled egg, green olive, and spring onion, encased in a lard-enriched dough and baked in a wood-fired horno. The repulgue (the crimped seal) is identity — each province has a canonical pattern; Tucumán's eighteen-fold repulgue signals origin to any Argentine. The Salta version adds potato and is slightly smaller. Unlike Buenos Aires empanadas (often pan-fried), the authentic northwest style is always baked.

Eaten as a first course at asado before the meat arrives; accompanied by wine (Torrontés in Salta, Malbec in Mendoza) or cold Quilmes; chimichurri or salsa criolla served alongside for dipping