Empanada

Great news! In yesterday's paper, there was an article regarding the Empanada Co. in Lindon. The empanada — a half-circle dough pocket filled with meats, cheeses and vegetables. Offering traditional beef, chicken, spicy cheese and corn, as well as a dessert empanada oozing with apples and dulce de leche, the company hopes to woo the institutional market. It's hoping to win over hospitals, schools, business conventions, catering companies and even restaurants with its quick-food item.

The empanadas come frozen and can be baked in about 15 minutes. Throw it in the deep fryer and it's ready in about 6 minutes. A box of 50 sells for $25.

My first exposure to the delicious empanada was 34 years ago while walking the streets of San Francisco — no, not that San Francisco. It was San Francisco, a 'burb of Maracaibo, Venezuela. When we had gotten through with our discussions and headed back to the apartment, we'd stop by this house. In the front yard, the family had set up shop with an assembly line…a few tables and a couple of big barrels full of boiling oil. The grandma and the mother were rolling out the dough. Another person was cutting out the empanadas, then one would fill them with potatoes or meat. Another would pinch the dough together and place them on a plate. The dad would put them in the oil and cook them.

You could get 3 or 4 of them for 2Bs (Bolivars) — 50¢. They were to die for. (That was one of the few places we didn't mind eating off of the streets and having to worry about paying for it later with intestinal problems because we knew that they changed the cooking oil regularly.)

The only problem I see with the Lindon Empanada Co. is that the article states that the company isn't set up for individual consumer sales right now, but that doesn't mean it won't be in the future. — One can only hope and keep their fingers crossed for an empanada dream to come true.