Au pair, the official literature explains, means on par. As in equal. As if. The girl who showed up, wobbily supported by high heels and high-school English, is not our equal. She’s far more capable. For instance, she wakes at dawn. Packs the lunchbox, cheerfully. Locates missing sock and violin. Plays a vicious game of hide and seek. And makes coffee. She is a marvel.
In appreciation of such heavy lifting we offer her room, board, stipend and a chance to study our national habits. She is duly stunned by the eight-lane expressway, the wide-open terrain of the megastore, naked tree and peanut butter. Especially peanut butter. On toast, apple, tortilla, fork or finger.
We’ve introduced other novelties. Craisin. Bagel. Leftover. Leff-obar? she lilts. This is American food? Indeed. And yet difficult to parse. Why, for instance, do we call both reheated penne and reheated curry leftover? We review this vocabulary lesson, frequently.
The leftover isn’t simply left, over. Half a tuna melt doesn’t count. It’s not until an entire meal has been constructed from the building blocks of previous culinary achievements that a dish rises to the level of leftover. Consider the classics: Dagwood sandwich. Chicken potpie. Meatloaf.
Nor is every leftover mere happy happenstance. Like the outlet mall and the remaindered bookstore, the leftover industry deals in duplicity. There are whole cookbooks devoted to the promise of “cook once, eat all week.” Whole families that eat nothing but. Whole holidays designed as prelude to turkey-on-rye.
In my country, the au pair frowns, we have no leff-obar.
Then one morning, culture is exchanged, right in my kitchen. Faced with a tubful of remaindered roast turkey, our au pair pairs new and old into novel: the turkey empanada.
The hot pocket, crisp on the outside, savory and juicy inside, achieves the highest standard of leftover-not merely on par with the original, but more capable. The girl in heels looks pleased, patting reheated turkey into a fresh circle of masa. We’re thinking she’s qualified for citizenship.
CROSS-CULTURAL EMPANADA
Makes 10
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Vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped celery
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 cups shredded cooked turkey
1 tablespoon salsa Lizano*
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 pinch turmeric
3 cups instant corn masa
2 – 2 1/2 cups water
Shredded cabbage, optional
1. Soften: In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add pepper, onion, cilantro, celery and garlic. Cook until fragrant, 2 minutes.
2. Sizzle: Add turkey, sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt and turmeric. Cook until sizzling sticky, 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Knead: Measure masa and teaspoon salt into a medium mixing bowl. Add water slowly, kneading the mixture with your hands, until dough feels like fresh Play-Doh. Divide into 10 balls. Cover with a kitchen towel.
4. Roll: Snip off the business end of a quart-sized zip-top bag. Cut along the sides and unfold it. Roll one ball of dough between your palms for several seconds. Place the dough ball on the plastic ex-bag. Pat and turn until the circle of dough is 6 inches in diameter. Use flat fingers of one hand for the patting, and curved fingers of the other hand to shape the edge.
5. Fill: Spread 1-2 heaping tablespoons of turkey mixture across the center of the circle. Use the plastic to lift and fold the dough into a semicircle. Press gently to seal the edges. Repeat with remaining dough and filling, keeping finished empanadas covered with a towel.
6. Fry: Pour oil into a medium skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat over medium-high. Fry empanadas 2 at a time until crisp and golden, 2 minutes per side. Open on seam and stuff in cabbage, if you like. Munch while hot.
*If your grocery store or computer isn’t up to ordering a bottle of Costa Rica’s national sauce, substitute steak sauce.
Provenance: Cinthia Abarca Barrientos taught me to make empanadas. She learned by watching-at a safe distance-her grandmother. I’m not one for bouillon cubes, but otherwise hewed to her careful instruction.
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