Nico Rivera
Features Editor
On Friday, April 3, Latinas Unidas (LU) organized their first “Empanada Night” in the kitchen of Luce Hall. Students were invited to prepare empanadas together along with drinks and music. Andrea Peralta Villa ’27, co-president of LU, explained that the organization “began planning the event before spring break. We’ve been thinking about it for like two months, and it’s kind of inspired because I know the Japanese Student Association did something similar every year with different dumplings. And so we were like … ‘How about we have people help with the food process?’”
There were a variety of empanadas that students could help make, including beef, shrimp, cheese and Salvadorean sweet empanadas filled with cream and covered in cinnamon. Students helped to mold the masa (dough) and fill them before crimping them and sending them to the kitchen, where LU members fried and baked the empanadas. Music played while students cooked, mingled and enjoyed the empanadas.
Grayson Pettit-Miller ’29 explained that “[Empanada Night] is in fact the first Latinas Unidas event I’ve gone to … this is one of the first times I’ve heard of the organization outside of Culture Show… I’m really excited to be able to come because they’ve got incredible food and really good vibes. Making the empanadas got people engaged, my favorite was probably the cheese empanadas.”
Peralta Villa explained that LU worked late into the night on Thursday to finish preparations for the event. “Yeah we actually started last night … so we prepped everything because we knew it would take a while, but everything else, everyone helped with.”
Nano Cortes-Furuya ’27, a member of LU, spoke about how Empanada Night helped create connections outside of the organization. “I’m very glad because this was a collaboration with the Spanish Department and International Department. They really wanted to bridge more connections because LU and the Spanish Department haven’t had that many collaborations together, so I’m glad that this one was so big and successful that we were able to bridge that gap a little more.”
Co-president of LU, Britz Ruiz ’27, spoke more about the preparations in the Latinx lounge the night before. “It was really fun, it was late at night so we were all pretty tired but we were working pretty efficiently, we had music going and we were all helping each other out.”
Reflecting on the event, Ruiz said “I thought it was really fun. It’s our first time having this event, and I feel like it was incredibly successful for the first time. I obviously think there’s room for improvement. I feel like there were some long lines but I think that’s what I like about cooking, the fact that it takes long and it’s laborious … when you eat it, it tastes so good because you’ve been waiting so long. I think it was super fun to have everybody working together and making their stuff.”
J.J. Rodriguez ’29 spoke positively about the event, saying “Empanada Night was amazing. I’m full, and I came in very, very hungry. I loved the empanadas and the vibe that was here … I saw people making the empanadas and it looked like a community-building practice, I liked it.”
Daniel Kastick ’29 reflected on Empanada Night and the other LU events he has attended in the past. He explained that “What I like about the Latinas Unidas events in general, not just this one, is how tight knit everybody seems. The culture just definitely seems to be there. They can be authentic and they don’t have to compromise themselves in order for other people to feel better, you know? They can be authentic in their own space and I love that.”