September is approaching and as it has been done for 20 years, the Circle of Gastronomic and Wine Chroniclers of Chile held its traditional contest to choose the best Chilean empanada in Valparaíso, at the Circular restaurant, Paseo Yugoslavo 15.
In this new edition of the contest, which was carried out under the corresponding sanitary regulations, pine empanadas were blindly tasted, which had to conform to the traditional recipe paired with the most appropriate harmony together with Gato, Typical Chilean.
The purchase was made anonymously, in other words, the locals do not know that they are participating and the tasting of the empanadas was carried out blindly, that is, without having in view the names of their manufacturers or points of sale and of according to a rigorous protocol for cutting the empanadas at the time of the test.
To do this, tasting panels were appointed, made up of experts, all of them members of the Circle of Gastronomic and Wine Chroniclers. As commissioner, two other members of the group acted, whose task is to supervise the correct functioning of the activity, as well as other associates who were in charge of logistics.
The empanadas tasted were evaluated on a scale from 1 to 7, taking into account the quality of the ingredients, both in the dough and in the pine.
In this version, the winning empanadas of the great Santiago were in first place La Temucana bakery (Quebrada de Macul 7191, Peñalolén), in second place, Las Tentaciones de La Reina (Av. Larraín 7924, La Reina) and in third place Los gansos ( Av. Ecuador 4660, Santiago).
As the empanada that has the best value for money, the one from Almacén Bendito (Haendel 2801, San Joaquín) won. And the 20-year-Typical Chilean award went to La Rosalía (Pastor Fernández 15521, La Barnechea)
“The winners of the 20th edition of this contest have confirmed the meaning of this award, which is to choose the referents of this typical Chilean product at its best.
Coming from different communes, they all have a tradition and a quality that makes them among the best” commented Patricio Rojas, president of the Círculo de Cronistas Gastronómicos y del Vino de Chile.
In Valparaíso, the winner was Sabor de Miguel; in second place, Delicia Exprés Bakery and in third place, La Campezana Bakery.
The tasting criteria were fixed in the dough, in the filling and as a whole, in addition to observing the quality of the dough, both its ingredients and its cooking and baking; the quality of the pine as a stew, that is, its proportion of ingredients, cooking and seasoning and finally, the quality of the meat, its type and its contribution in flavor and texture to the pine; the quality of the olives, the hard-boiled egg and the raisins and finally, the general balance of the empanada is to see if the proportion of the dough is adequate in relation to the dough.
The empanada as a whole must have a delicious and invasive aroma where the smells of meat, onion, chili, cumin and baked dough come together in a balanced way. And an irresistible flavor, thanks to the quality, harmony and perfect cooking of its ingredients.
