A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520, the Libre del Coch by Ruperto de Nola, mentions empanadas filled with seafood among its recipes of Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food. In turn, it is believed that empanadas and the similar calzones are both derived from the Arabic meat-filled pies, samosa. The dish was carried to Latin America and the Philippines by Spanish colonists, where they re
main very popular to this day. Empanadas in Latin America and the Philippines have various fillings. Creole cuisine empanadas are commonly eaten in the United States, especially in the South and the Southwest. In Louisiana empanadas are Creole savory meat pies, commonly made in Louisiana by Creoles in South and North Louisiana. They are a half circle flaky crust, filled with seasoned pork, beef, chicken, and cheese. In the southeastern United States, there is a similarly prepared dessert often referred to as "fried pies." They typically consist of a pastry filling made from re-constituted dried fruit such as apples, apricots, peaches or yams. The filling is placed in a dough circle, folded over in half, and then fried. Among the Spanish and Mexican families that colonized New Mexico, there is a winter tradition of gathering to making sweetmeat empanadas for Christmas. These small empanadas are made with hand-ground cooked pork, sugar, toasted local piñon, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; sealed in tortilla-like dough; then deep-fried in lard until lightly golden brown. Variations include making them from beef, and using different nuts or spices. Gathering the family to make and gift these sweetmeat empanadas is one of many traditional New Mexico foodways that continues to thrive
