Empanada Festival This Weekend at Portland Mercado

First we had the winter soup festival, then the tamale festival, and this time around the Portland Mercado is presenting a fantastic array of empanadas at the Empanada Festival this weekend. It’s going to be seriously delicious.

Perusing the various offerings, the first one that really caught my eye is the guyaba y queso empanada at Havana Station (Cuban) and also at Qué Bacano (Colombian). Guava and cheese is a classic combination and I can’t tell you how many guava+cheese pastries/baked goods I have eaten over the years. They are so good together.

Xŏcotl’s sweet corn tamal, topped with mango-passionfruit sauce, also sounds incredible!

On the more savory side of things, Tierra del Sol’s chorriqueso is bound to be delicious. I mean, melted cheese and chorizo? Sign me up. I’m also a fan of straight up beef empanadas, and there will be a bunch of choices there. I may have to go with the Argentinian option at AleCocina. The moles of Oaxaca are legendary, so it would be hard to go wrong with mole amarillo (yellow), verde (green), or coloradito.

In other words, it’s just a fantastic few days of delicious empanada options from all the vendors. Here’s what you’ll find this weekend at the Portland Mercado’s Empanada Festival:

AleCocina (Argentina): carne (beef), pollo (chicken), espinacas (spinach), jamon y queso (ham & cheese), humitas (fresh corn), cebolla y queso (cheese & onion)
Tierra del Sol (Oaxaca): choriqueso, mole amarillo, mole verde, mole coloradito, tinga, mushroom con queso (mushroom & cheese), nopalitos (cactus), veggie stew
La Carreta Pura Vida (Costa Rica): pollo (chicken), carne (beef), queso (cheese), frijol (beans), platano maduro con queso (sweet plantains & cheese), gallo pinto (rice & beans)
Tita’s Kitchen (Peru): Inka chicken baked empanadas
Havana Station (Cuba): guayaba y queso (guava & cheese), carne (beef)
Fernando’s Alegría (Mexico): carne (beef)
Qué Bacano (Colombia): pollo (chicken), carne (beef), queso (cheese), guava y queso (guava & cheese)
Xŏcotl (fresh juice and smoothie bar): sweet corn tamal
Kaah Market: pollo (chicken), camaron (shrimp), veggies

Everything is to-go (para llevar), but you an still eat there at the Mercado at their picnic tables. Be sure to bring a mask with you, as they and social distancing is still required there.

And if you’re into that sort of thing, The Oscars are this Sunday. Why not have a selection of empanadas while you watch the festivities and awards? Could be the best part of the whole evening.

Empanada Festival
March 25 to 27, Friday to Sunday
11am to 8pm
Portland Mercado, 7238 SE Foster Road, Portland
portlandmercado.org/empanadas-festival