Chilean soul food, from our family to yours

Hola, I'm Virginia

If we have already met, it was over a hot tray at Norah Head or Gosford, and I probably kept you talking longer than you planned. That is still my favourite part of this work.

I am Chilean, an industrial engineer who retrained as a nutritional health coach, and a mother of two. Somewhere between those three things I started making empanadas the way I wanted my own family to eat — and then my neighbours asked, and then the markets asked, and here we are.

Sara Rosa handmade organic empanada, Virginia's Kitchen

Made by hand

Folded one at a time

Every empanada is made by hand, in small batches, in our kitchen at Forresters Beach. No machine, no thousands at once. You can tell by the size of them, and by the fact that no two come out exactly the same. They are Latin, like me. They have opinions.

Ingredients

What goes in, and what stays out

Organic stone-milled flour. Spring water instead of tap. Organic or locally grown produce wherever I can get it, and grass-fed beef from our butcher in West Gosford. No preservatives. I read every label before it comes into this kitchen, because I am buying for my own table at the same time.

Each product page lists what goes into the empanada, so you can choose with the same information I use when I cook for my own family.

Carefully named

Our GF Ingredients range

The gluten free dough took me a long time to get right: my own blend of flours, avocado oil, no egg, and no compromise on the fold or the flavour. Every ingredient in it is certified gluten free.

I also want to be straight with you. I work with wheat flour in the same kitchen, on separate days and separate equipment, so I call this range GF Ingredients rather than gluten free. Here is exactly how we handle it.

The Central Coast

Food is a local thing

I buy from growers and butchers I can call by name, on the Central Coast wherever possible. I would rather grow slowly here, serving the community I actually live in, than ship empanadas to people I will never meet. When we buy closer to home, all of us eat better for it.

Find me locally