Onion is one of the key ingredients in a Galician empanada. It provides the moisture needed to balance the pastry and filling, and plays a major role in determining the quality of the final product.

That’s why at Costumes we only use fresh onions, which we peel and slowly sweat in our own bakery. We use Galician flat onions for most of the year, switching to other varieties when they’re out of season.

One of the most critical stages in making an empanada is sweating the onions, which involves stirring them constantly to prevent browning. This can take between one and two hours, depending on the variety of onion and whether it’s an early or late harvest.

Onion is one of the most nutritious and health-promoting foods in our cuisine. It’s a great ally against respiratory conditions such as flu. It also contains quercetin, an antioxidant believed to have pain-relieving, vasodilating and anti-inflammatory properties, among others.

Beneath its layers lies a wealth of minerals and trace elements (calcium, magnesium, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, phosphorus, iodine, nickel, potassium, silicon, zinc, sulphur and bromine), as well as vitamins (A, B6, B9 or folic acid, C and E).

For all these reasons, onion is considered one of the healthiest foods — a true nutritional treasure — with additional properties including antiviral, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-asthmatic, neuroprotective and prebiotic benefits. According to the Spanish Heart Foundation, it also helps reduce cholesterol and is an excellent ally in preventing blood clots, promoting healthy circulation. What more could you ask for?

Although it’s thought to have originated in Asia, onion is mentioned in Ancient Egyptian texts dating back over 4,000 years. It was also highly valued by the Greeks for its therapeutic properties. It was widely consumed in the Middle Ages, and later, following the discovery of America, Columbus brought it from Europe to the New World, where it was first cultivated in the Caribbean.

The onion is one of the most noticeable differences when you taste our empanadas. Thanks to its natural quality and the way we slowly sweat it, the final product is light on the stomach and won’t repeat on you. This is often not the case with supermarket empanadas or those from many bakeries, which use much lower-quality preserved onion containing additives, thickeners, oils and other ingredients.

Looking for tasty, wholesome and nutritious food? Our empanadas, made with fresh onion, offer all of that. Treat your taste buds…

For your health and wellbeing, try them and taste the difference!