New Festival Empanada Bursts with Regional, Innovative Flavors
Since the debut of the incredibly popular animated film, “Encanto,” empanadas now remain a staple festival food throughout the year at EPCOT. During each festival, these delicious stuffed, savory pastries always suprise with their flavor profiles, and today’s new debut certainly popped with creative flair.
For the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts this year, chefs created a chorizo and potato empanada that debuted today at “Vibrante and Vivido: Encanto Cucina,” a food booth located between France and Morocco.
MickeyBlogger Jessica headed to the booth this afternoon as she toured the new culinary offerings around World Showcase. Not only did she comment on the overall yumminess of the pastry and its filling, but she also really enjoyed the crispy exterior texture.
Inside, the chorizo finds itself ground into a pleasant mixture with the potato to make for a rather … harmonious … and smooth combination. Sauteed onions and peppers give a bit of a crunch inside as well as pops of traditional Columbian sofrito flavor.
To get that crunch, the crust does seem a bit dry, so the additional aioli sauces that paint the exterior of the pastry add just the right touch of moisture too.
The added heat from the bright yellow turmeric aioli blends nicely with the earthy flavors of the annatto mayonaisse-based toping.The two dressings swirl across the top of the crimped crust with an artistic flair reminiscent of Jackson Pollock.
The deep-orange tinted annatto also offers another traditional flavor of Central American cuisine, as the spice comes from the seeds of the achiote tree, native to the region.
Stay tuned for more as MickeyBlog continues their edible tour of this year’s highly creative International Festival of the Arts!