Empanada de pino

The heart of the Chilean empanada is the pino, the filling. Chopped or ground beef is sautéed with plenty of diced onion, fat, cumin, paprika and salt until it forms a moist stew that often rests overnight. When assembling, each empanada receives a portion of pino, a piece of hard‑boiled egg, a black olive and, according to taste, some raisins. The dough, made from wheat flour and fat, is folded over at the edges, brushed and baked in the oven until golden. Pino empanadas are large and are eaten hot, straight from the oven.

The name of the filling has different explanations. Chile Travel, the country’s official tourism promotion agency, links the word pino to the Mapuche term pirru, used for the mixture of chopped meat with onion. Folklorist Oreste Plath suggested another Mapuche origin, pinu, which would mean tiny pieces. Raisins are the biggest debate: some people won’t give them up, others remove them one by one, and many homes and bakeries sell both versions.

The empanada arrived with the Spaniards, who brought the technique of stuffed and baked dough. In Chile, it acquired the pino and a special place on the table. A legend attributes the first Chilean empanada to Inés de Suárez, companion of the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, but there is no documentary evidence. Other South American countries have their empanadas with different fillings, doughs and sizes; the pino version is the one Chileans recognize as theirs.

In September, during the Fiestas Patrias, which celebrate the first government junta of 1810, the pino empanada is the mandatory food at the fondas, the large festival venues with food, cueca and music set up across the country. The rest of the year, it is many families’ Sunday lunch, bought at the bakery or made at home. In the north, there are versions with llama or lamb meat; on the coast, seafood and cheese empanadas, usually fried, share the counter with pino empanadas.