Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1900) of Roberto Arlt, an Argentine writer who had a major impact on South American writers, although he is not well known outside of Argentina. He was born Roberto Godofredo Christophersen Arlt in Buenos Aires. His parents were both immigrants: his father Karl Arlt was a Prussian from Posen (now Poznan in present-day Poland) and his mother was Ekatherine Lobstraibitzer, a native of Trieste and native Italian speaker. German was the language commonly used at their home. His relationship with his father was stressful; Karl Arlt was a very severe and austere man according to Arlt’s own account. The memory of his oppressive father would appear in several of his writings. For example, Remo Erdosain (a character at least partially based on Arlt’s own life) often recalls his abusive father and how little, if any, support he would give him. After being expelled from school at the age of eight, Arlt became self taught and worked at all sorts of different odd jobs as clerk at a bookstore, apprentice to a tinsmith, painter, mechanic, welder, manager in a brick factory, and dock worker. Eventually he got a job at a local newspaper.

His first novel, El juguete rabioso (1926) (The Mad Toy), was the semi-autobiographical story of Silvio, a dropout who goes through a series of adventures trying to be “somebody.” Narrated by Silvio’s older self, the novel reflects the energy and chaos of the early 20th century in Buenos Aires. The narrator’s literary and sometimes poetic language contrasts sharply with the street-level slang of Mad Toy’s many colorful characters.

When talking about Buenos Aires street food, you must get around to empanadas at some point.  Empanadas are Spanish pasties essentially and can be made in a number of ways with a number of fillings. In most of South America they are made by encasing a filling in dough and deep frying it.  In Buenos Aires they are typically baked, and the classic filling is a spicy beef mix.  Here is the classic recipe plus variations.

Empanada Dough (for baking)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup lard, finely shredded
1 egg, beaten
pinch salt
water

Instructions:

Mix the egg with the salt and enough water to make ½ cup of liquid.

Work together the lard and flour with your fingertips, then add enough liquid a little at a time to form a soft, pliable dough.  Knead the dough for a few minutes and then let it rest before rolling out on a floured surface as thin as possible and cutting into 6 in/15 cm rounds (or 4 in/10 cm for empanaditas).

Top a round of dough with your filling of choice, fold over the dough to form a half moon shape, crimp the edges and bake until golden.

Beef Filling

Ingredients

2 cups cooked minced beef
½ cup lard
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
½ cup beef broth
1 tsp ground cumin (or to taste)
chopped parsley to taste

Instructions:

Heat the lard and cook the onions until they are soft.  Add the flour and form a roux.  Add the broth, cumin, and parsley and simmer gently until thickened.

Add the beef and warm through. Correct seasonings and then let the mix cool to room temperature.

Greens Filling

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chard, shredded
1 cup white sauce
3 tbsps olive oil
½ onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced fine
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

Instructions:

Heat the oil of medium heat and then cook the onion and garlic until soft but not browned.  Add the chard and mix well with the onions and garlic.  Add the white sauce and season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Cheese Filling

Ingredients

2 cups melting cheese, grated
2 eggs separated
1 tbsp flour
salt and nutmeg to taste

Instructions

Beat the egg yolks until lemon colored and fold in the flour, salt, and nutmeg.

Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks.

Blend the cheese into the beaten yolks and then fold them gently into the whites.

Sweet empanadas or empanaditas are not common in Argentina, but you can find them in homes once in a while.  The commonest filling is membrillo (quince preserve) which is used frequently in pastries too.  It is also usual to fry rather than bake sweet empanadas.  You can make full sized sweet empanadas but it is more customary to make smaller ones that are bite sized.