Empanadas: A Cultural History Through the Lens of Gustavo Laborde .

How a simple filled pastry became a symbol of regional identity in Argentina

Empanadas are one of the most recognizable foods in Argentina, eaten everywhere from rural kitchens to national festivals. Although they appear simple—a portion of dough wrapped around a savory filling—their history reveals a complex story of migrations, cultural exchanges, and regional identities. To understand how this dish became a national icon, it is helpful to look at the work of Gustavo Laborde, a Uruguayan anthropologist whose research explores how culinary traditions shape social and cultural identities in the Río de la Plata region.

From Iberia to the Southern Cone

The origins of empanadas can be traced to medieval Iberia, where meat pies and dough-wrapped fillings were influenced by centuries of Arab presence in Spain. When Spanish colonizers arrived in the Americas in the 16th century, they brought this culinary tradition with them. Over time, these pastries blended with local ingredients and techniques, evolving into the empanadas we know today.

Laborde’s general framework for food anthropology helps make sense of this transformation: foods brought by colonizers rarely remain unchanged. Instead, they adapt to new landscapes, new communities, and new meanings. According to his wider research on culinary identity, dishes evolve because they are continuously reinvented — not because they were “always traditional,” but because communities adopt, modify, and reinterpret them.

The Regionalization of Empanadas in Argentina

One of the most striking features of Argentine empanadas is their regional diversity. Although the idea—dough plus filling—is shared across the country, each province has crafted its own version, with distinctive flavors and cultural significance.

• Salta & Tucumán: Juicy fillings, usually beef with potatoes, peppers, and sometimes a touch of spice.

  
  

• Cuyo (Mendoza, San Juan): Olives, raisins, and hard-boiled egg, reflecting Mediterranean influences.

  
  

• Patagonia: Lamb or goat, shaped by local livestock traditions.

  
  

• Northeast: Indigenous and Paraguayan influences, sometimes including mandioca or corn-based doughs.

  
  

• Buenos Aires: A milder, more cosmopolitan style shaped by European immigration.

  
  

Laborde’s work consistently highlights how foods become local markers of identity. The empanada is a perfect example: provinces celebrate specific festivals, families compete over techniques, and regional pride is closely tied to the “correct” way to prepare the dough or season the meat. In this sense, empanadas act as edible maps of Argentina’s cultural geography.

Everyday Food and Festive Symbol

In Laborde’s anthropological perspective, foods gain meaning not only from recipes but from social practices. Empanadas operate in two simultaneous spheres:

1. Daily nourishment

They are affordable, portable, and practical, making them a staple in households, bakeries, and street food stands. In this everyday role, empanadas represent comfort and routine.

2. Festive ritual

During national holidays, religious festivals, family gatherings, and provincial fairs—like the Fiesta Nacional de la Empanada in Tucumán—empanadas become symbols of hospitality and celebration. They are often prepared communally, a detail Laborde emphasizes in his broader work: food preparation is a social act that reinforces bonds, especially within women’s domestic networks.

A Dish That Builds Identity

One of Laborde’s key contributions to food studies is the idea that national cuisines are not fixed histories but ongoing constructions. Empanadas illustrate this perfectly. While they originate from colonial and Old World traditions, Argentines have made them central to modern culinary identity.

Today, empanadas appear in:

• high-end restaurants as “gourmet” reinterpretations

  
  

• large commercial chains spreading standardized versions

  
  

• home kitchens where regional or family traditions are preserved

  
  

• diaspora communities, where empanadas become symbols of memory and belonging

  
  

This dynamic, according to Laborde’s approach, shows how a food becomes “national” not through purity or antiquity, but through continual cultural negotiation.

Who Is Gustavo Laborde? (Brief profile)

Gustavo Laborde is a Uruguayan anthropologist, journalist, and cultural researcher who specializes in the study of food as a marker of identity in the Río de la Plata region. With a doctorate in anthropology from Spain, Laborde has written influential works on the history and cultural meaning of food, including studies on asado, national cuisine, and the social rituals surrounding cooking.

Although he has written more extensively on Uruguayan and regional foodways, his analytical framework—focusing on how dishes embody identity and historical encounters—applies directly to understanding the cultural evolution of Argentinian empanadas.

Laborde’s approach helps reveal why empanadas are not just a meal, but a cultural narrative: a story of colonial roots, regional creativity, family traditions, and national symbolism.

Conclusion: Empanadas as a Living Tradition

Seen through the lens of Gustavo Laborde’s cultural anthropology, the empanada becomes more than a pastry. It is a living tradition shaped by centuries of migration, adaptation, and storytelling. Each fold of the dough, each regional filling, and each family recipe reflects a part of Argentina’s history.

In other words:empanadas are a national dish not because they have always been the same, but because they have never stopped changing.