2023-11-27 06:00:00
He will share the secrets of his Empanada Viajera in the Cociña Capital workshop
27 nov 2023 . Updated at 05:00 a.m.
The Cociña Capital workshops continue for La Voz de Galicia subscribers. Tomorrow, at the CIFP Paseo das Pontes, there will be Pablo Pizarro (Buenos Aires, 1978), chef who has turned an icon of Galician gastronomy such as the empanada into an exportable and coveted recipe in all corners of the country thanks to La Empanada Viajera, an adventure in which he embarked after visiting some of the most renowned kitchens in the city. He will share his secrets about this very special delicacy with 30 subscribers who sign up by calling 900 154 218.
—Can you make a good empanada at home?
-Of course! We always think about wood ovens, but it is not relevant. I use an electric oven, in fact. What’s really important is the flour you use to make the dough and, of course, the filling. You have to use quality ingredients and, above all, dedicate time to it. Each strip of onion that we make for the filling at La Empanada Viajera is sautéed for about four hours. At home it won’t be as long because it isn’t the same amount, but it has to be well poached to prevent it from repeating itself. That is much more important than the oven.
—Speaking of filling, is there any limit on what can be put in an empanada?
-No. I have even made one of tripe, so I think that if there were limits we have already broken them! Each one makes it what they like most. At home you can do whatever you want, but not everything goes for selling in a business. Jorge Guitián, who leads me on the whole topic of communication, is writing a book about the empanada and he gives me fillings that were made before that are now unviable. For example, bone-in pork ribs. It can be done and, if you ask me, I will do it for you. But I can’t have it to sell by weight or by portions. It is not comfortable to eat. Or the cockle one with its shell, which I have no doubt is tastier, but I don’t see a way to sell it in the bakery.
—Did you have any failed experiences with any fillers?
—Yes, there are things that sound wonderful but the result does not meet expectations. It happened to me with the hake in green sauce that we made for a while. Just the way we like to make empanadas, fat, with a lot of filling, they were dry. It wasn’t bad and it sold. But it didn’t reach the level I wanted.
-It is not an exact science.
—Historically it was said that the base had to be one third, the filling another third, and the lid another third. But we are going for 50% filling, which for me is the most important thing. Although everyone speaks wonders about our dough. It is true that with classic proportions, a good dough can cover a filling that is simply decent. With our proportions, not even the best dough in the world would achieve it. That’s why we have to worry so much about filling.
—Where does your recipe come from?
—Many years ago, when I worked at Attica 21, we started making empanadas for events and we perfected the recipe little by little. And I’m still going, because I don’t stop testing and making changes to improve it. So he leaves work, just like that. I would love to tell you that it is a recipe that goes back to my grandmother’s time and that I make it as is because it reminds me of my childhood, but oh well, nothing like that. My grandmother cooked normally and my mother worked. So I can’t give you one of those stories about how she got up at four in the morning to cook and I smelled the stove from bed. I’m sorry.
—You starred in one of the most remembered gastronomic milestones of this city: the anniversaries of Bocanegra, in which the best chefs in the country met.
—There were five years of anniversaries. It was a crazy thing for Jorge Canosa and me, because we did it alone, we didn’t have institutional support. We always liked making four-handed kitchens. A few months after opening the Bocanegra, Alén Tarrío came, followed by Diego López Lights, Dani López from O Camiño do Inglés… And it occurred to us to make a ten hands, five cooks, for the first anniversary. It was stressful, but it scared me. And we never earn a cent from these parties. No cook was paid, and that’s why we made sure they were comfortable. It was also a party for them. Something like this has not been done again, a sign that it was not easy. By the way, 2024 would be Bocanegra’s tenth anniversary. I leave it there [ríe].
«I was in love with the stress of the restaurant, but I had to stop»
Pablo Pizarro is one of the most talented chefs in the city, but one day he decided to leave the restaurant kitchen to open La Empanada Viajera.
-Why did you specialize in empanadas?
-We always say that in Galicia we have the best product, but we forget about the shrimp from Palamós or the one from Huelva. But there are two things in which we have no rival: bread and empanada. There is no discussion there. And yet, we don’t brag about them, we don’t promote them at all. When the second round of closures due to the pandemic hit us at Le Viandier, I began to think about the idea of an empanada that could be sent throughout Spain and that would be finished cooking at the destination. And since I had a lot of time, I started trying. I sent it to some chefs like Ángel León or Dani García. And it worked. It was clear to me that I wanted to escape from the day-to-day life of the restaurant. And in this empanadas I saw a way to do it without having to study medicine.
-But keep cooking.
-Yes, but I made a very clear decision with my wife: if the work grew, the staff grew. And so it has been. I don’t intend to get rich by sacrificing hours. And even less so with a six-month-old girl. But well, it was something already decided before she was born.
-When did you realize that you wanted to change your life?
-It was in the pandemic. I realized that I had not had dinner with my oldest daughter two days in a row other than on vacation or when we were locked down. I needed to change something, I had to stop. He was in love with the stress of service. You told me a few years ago that I was going to quit and I would start laughing.
Filed in: La Voz de Galicia Buenos Aires
#empanada #limits #tripe