QUEENS, New York — By midmorning, a steady stream of people are making their way to a cozy corner business in New York City’s borough of Queens. Their destination? The Empanadas Café, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
“When we started, if our clients were not Latin American, they didn’t know what an empanada was,” owner Patricia Bernard said. “We had to explain to them that it was like a turnover. Today that’s not the case; people know empanadas, and it’s entered the U.S. vocabulary.”
Here in one of the nation’s most diverse counties, restaurant and café owners are among the broader wave of restaurateurs and chefs who have brought Latino flavors into the American culinary mainstream.
Whether it be through food trucks, neighborhood restaurants, or meal order or meal prep apps, food items and dishes known mostly to Latinos are now enjoyed by more diners, while still giving Hispanics a taste of home.
Empanadas — and then there’s arepas
“Empanadas are comfort food for Latin Americans,” Bernard said, “and our American clients love them; they’re the first thing to go at parties.”
Her team makes empanadas with white flour (familiar to people from Argentina and Chile) and corn flour (popular with Colombians and Venezuelans) and fills them with ground beef, chicken, cheese or mixed vegetables.
Back in Queens, the word of mouth on Bernard’s empanadas is so strong that the café has never had to advertise.
“People just find us,” she said. “Though once in a while, someone will come by and ask for a taco!”
Empanadas are far from uniform; as with other Latino foods, there are variations depending on the country of origin, and these differences may not be known to non-Latino diners. In Puerto Rico, they’re usually fried and are also known as empanadillas or pastelillos; in countries like Argentina and Uruguay, empanadas are usually baked.
In the…
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