"God, That's good!" or a meat pie by any other name...

This movie was a bit on the gruesome side and it was a bit disturbing find out later what was REALLY in those pies...

also known as the "best meat pies in London", heh heh.

Luckily these meat filled pastries that I've tried over the past few months weren't filled with murdered humans...


A few days ago, TC and I were in OB for thrift store shopping. Before we left, I wanted to get a small bite before we had our real lunch.

Azucar is a Cuban bakery at the eastern end of Newport Avenue. There are a variety of pastries (cheese and guava among them) as well as fancy French style desserts that are to die for.


Pastelito de carne, the Cuban version of meat pie. This was a perfect puff pastry filled with spiced ground beef, onions, and potatoes. It tasted like my mom's picadillo (but without the raisins) encased in puff pastry.


This was the perfect small bite. I believe it was only $1.75.  What would have made this better was having it warmed up.

Earlier this week TC, as well as Cathy were here. We actually came to get some spring rolls for later (TC's craving). Cathy and I both bought a couple of Pate Chaud, the Vietnamese version of a meat pie.

(photo from my "Return to Mien Trung and dessert at K Sandwiches" post, September 2013)

Here was the pair, still in the bag ($1.25 each):

And here is the cross section:

(photo from my "Snacks from K Sandwiches and wrap ingredients from Thuan Phat" post April 2015)

It looks like ground beef but it's ground pork.  It was delicious and enjoyed later that evening. A few other places to buy pate chaud are various Vietnamese bakeries in City Heights (after typing in 'pate chaud' in a yelp search), and Vietnamese eateries in Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, and so on. I'm curious to try the version by Cali Baguette; we now have one in Chula Vista (the west side).

If you are ever in the OC,  Au Coeur de Paris Patisserie and Boulangerie in Westminster offers it, or if you're ever in the SE neighborhood of Portland, An Xuyen Bakery. There are probably way more Vietnamese bakeries/eateries that do, but these are the ones I've been to.

At a my friend's mom's viewing (yeah, kind of sad), they had assorted Filipino finger foods such as lumpia as well as this more substantial item, the Empanada, aka the Filipino meat pie. The term itself is Spanish and comes from the verb, "empanar" meaning to wrap or coat in bread.  I've seen these before at Filipino parties and sometimes they are bought in bulk at a bakery (I don't know which one) or made by someone working out of their home. I'm not sure of the origin of these tasty morsels, but man, this was a really good one.


It's big and hefty and filled with ground beef, raisins, peas, and potatoes. The thick crimped crust was my favorite part. I always eat the crust first when I should probably save it for last.

Here are a couple more examples of empanadas, this time, the Argentinian version, both of which were bought at Papa Luna's Empanadas in PB ($3.95 each). One was filled with the makings of a Reuben sandwich (corned beef, Swiss cheese, Russan dressing and sauerkraut). The other was the Camaron y Tocino (Shrimp and bacon, which I have tried in the past).


I took it to go and the worker even threw in their sauces, a chimichurri, a spicier version (the red),  and a Sriracha cream sauce.

The cross sections later that evening.  The Reuben, which I believe is a new menu offering (it's not listed online or on their menu board in the restaurant) was unevenly filled. This was the more filled half which I had to take out some filling after the shot to spoon back into the other half.

The shrimp and smoked bacon was more substantially packed and more worth it to me than the Reuben.

The last meat pie is the Pastelillo, the Puerto Rican version from Tropical Star. Just look at this beautifully FRIED and not baked masterpiece.  My parents used to make something similar and we're not even Puerto Rican. The fork pressed crust has a nice and wide edge which I love. More crisp goodness. It's also packed in there. One piece is $2.95. The only other time I've had this was at the Balboa Park International Food Festival, usually held on Memorial Day weekend. During this awesome weekend only event, all of the different International Houses or Cottages sell food to fundraise. The House of Puerto Rico sells these for $3 each and there is usually a long line for these but customers are willing to wait while they fry these up.



The filling was similar to what I've tasted for the Cuban and Filipino meat pies. All of these were quite tasty and have their own particular quirks and charms, such as the "bubble" shape for the pate chaud, or the differences in the crusts and how the edges are folded or crimped. I love it all.

Previous visit to Azucar:
September 2012 for MFH's birthday dessert

Previous visit to K:
April 2015 - I need to just learn how to make this so I can have it anytime I want!

Previous visit to Papa Luna's:
April 2015

Previous visit to Tropical Star:
September 2009 - I can't believe it's been that long!

Here's another meat pie themed song...


Any deep fried (or baked) dough with meat filling is fine in my book!  I'm sure there are other cultural variations, but that is the fun of trying!