"One day, returning from a very quaint apple-picking trip with my in-laws in Newburgh, New York, I spotted a gleaming trailer off Route 9W with a tie-dye sign that proclaimed:Empanada Nirvana.“PULL OVER!” I screamed at my husband. There, surrounded by psychedelic pop art (Marilyn Monroe! Snoop Dogg! A skeleton in a patio chair!), was a man named Nelson Pantoja selling what just may be the most excellent empanadas I have ever tasted. We picked a lot of apples that day, but those perfect little half-moons—exteriors golden and crackly, insides bursting with oh-so-tender pernil, spicy komodo dragon sausage, or oozy cream cheese and guava—are all we ever talk about from that trip.—H.C." - ByThe Bon Appétit Staff
