When we first started writing guidebooks to Spain, we had so much ground to cover that we never had time for the two-hour midday lunch. Fortunately, we quickly discovered that most bread bakeries made great turnovers with various savory fillings. An empanada or two of tuna, ground beef and onions, or ham and cheese could keep us going all afternoon.

We have more time now, but we still love empanadas. Moreover, they help with balancing the food budget since some cost just over a euro each. Here in Valencia, we’ve discovered a couple of stalls in the Mercado Central that offer tasty empanadas at a good price. We usually go to Pan Estelles (bottom of the post on the right) for their excellent French bread. When we stopped at midday, we were taken with the display of empanadas. We ended up buying one stuffed with spinach and a little cheese, and some smaller versions stuffed simply with fresh cheese. The crust on the spinach was a crumbly savory pie dough.

The other Mercado Central stall we like for empanadas is La Tohona. This bakery’s pastry is slightly more bread-like and thinner. The fillings we tried were pistou (the Valencian cousin to ratatouille) and tuna. (Tuna is always a good bet in Spain—all fish and no mayo, as a general rule.)

Another world heard from

Beneath our window, the busy storefront facing Mercado Central, Central Rico (Plaza de Mercado), reminded us that there’s another whole hemisphere of empanadas. The shop serves Latin American foods, but their Venezuelan empanadas are far and away their biggest sellers. We enjoyed a gigantic fried empanada filled with chopped chicken and spices. Central Rico also has some unusual empanada fillings, such as dogfish (shark) or plantain and cheese. That’s Central Rico at the top of this post.

Spaniards have a special affinity for the cuisine of Argentina. You can’t walk down a restaurant street without bumping into an Argentine steak house or an Argentine burger joint. We didn’t expect to find an Argentine empanada shop just over a block off the Plaza de Ayuntamiento. La Milonga (Carrer Roger de Llòria, 9; lamilongaempanadas.es) has a clean, modern look that is quite in keeping with its upscale neighbors. (We discovered it on the way to Deutsche Bank and El Corte Inglés department store.) We couldn’t skip the carne empanada, given Argentina’s reputation for great beef. But we also decided to try the chicken version. Both fillings were expertly spiced and encased in almost perfect pastry.