The most popular Chilean empanada is called 'de pino' — filled with minced beef cooked slowly with onion and spices, plus a piece of hard-boiled egg, a black olive and a plump raisin. That mix of savoury and slightly sweet might sound unusual, but once it is wrapped in crisp golden pastry and baked, it becomes completely delicious. Chilean children often grow up knowing exactly how their grandmother's empanada tastes.
Making empanadas is a social activity. In Chilean homes, the whole family often gathers to help — some roll the pastry, some spoon in the filling, and some press the edges together in a pattern called 'repulgue'. Each family has its own style of folding the edges, a bit like a signature. Telling different families' empanadas apart by their repulgue is a real skill.
Empanadas can also be fried instead of baked, or filled with cheese, seafood, or spinach and cheese. On the coast, empanadas filled with fresh clams or shrimps are extremely popular. There is no one 'correct' empanada — they vary from region to region across Chile, each version reflecting the local ingredients and tastes.
On Chile's national holiday — 18 September — eating empanadas is practically compulsory. Stalls and markets sell thousands of them throughout the day. The smell of warm pastry and spiced meat drifting across a park full of people celebrating is considered, by many Chileans, the best smell in the world.