Interview With Nancy Oltman

What do you bring to the market?

Traditional-style baked empanadas with delicious and creative fillings. Each week we feature two of the savoury and one sweet filling and sell them as single baked empanadas to enjoy right away at the market.

Where are they produced?

We make them at Kitchen 2 Kitchen, 4312 6th Avenue..

When is it produced?

Every Wednesday.

Tell us about the supplies that you use. Are they local, organic, etc.?

We use Zestful Gardens and Little Eorthe products such as spinach, corn, and broccoli.

How or why is your product unique?

We create an ethnic food item that is not common in the Northwest. Our empanadas are baked, not fried like so many restaurants in Tacoma. As a result, our empanadas are healthier.

What got you into this industry?

Alexis spent time in Argentina. Her boyfriend, Leandro Torres, is an Argentine chef. He taught us how to make empanadas.

Tell us about the process of creating your product.

We cook the fillings, place the fillings in the empanada shells, fold the shells and then bake them. Making each empanada by hand not only takes a lot of care and time but ensures that each batch is our best as we constantly seek out the top ingredients and combinations.

Watch our video of us making Carne Empanadas:

Click here if you are unable to play the video above

Do you sell anything else?

No, we strickly sell empanadas.

Where else can people find your products?

At Kitchen 2 Kitchen (4312 6th Avenue in Tacoma). We offer a full menu of flavors from which you can place orders by the dozen:

Savoury

• Beef: Ground beef cooked with onions, sweet peppers, raisins, hard-boiled egg, garlic, and a blend of herbs and spices
  
• Chicken: Chicken breast, red peppers, green and white onions, mushrooms, and swiss cheese
  
• Spinach and Cheese: Spinach, swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions, hard-boiled egg, and garlic
  
• Sweet Corn: A traditional sweet corn filling, also a great vegetarian option. Recipe includes a mix of creamed and kernel corn, fresh tomatoes, green pepper, onion and spices.
• Caprese: Ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, onions and garlic
  

Sweet

• Apple and Dulce de Leche: We take a traditional apple, cinnamon and clove mix and sweeten it up with a spread of Argentine dulce de leche
• Guava and Ricotta: A Guava blend combined with Ricotta cheese

Each week we will feature two of the savoury and one sweet filling and sell them as single baked empanadas to enjoy right away at the market.

You can find more information on

pampeanaempanadas.com

What do you enjoy about this line of work?

Getting to know the customers.

What are the challenges of this line of work?

Knowing the right amount of empanadas to bake.