Sopaipilla
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A sopaipilla, also spelled sopapilla, is a kind of fried pastry or quick bread. The term is applied to either of two distinct breads, one typical of New Mexico in the United States, the other of areas in South America.
The word likely comes from American Spanish, a diminutive of the Spanish word sopaipa, which is used to indicate fried dough sweetened with honey. That word seems to have come from the earlier word "xopaipa", from the Mozarabic "xupaipa", which is a diminutive form of "úppa", "súppa", bread soaked in oil. It could also be from Old Spanish "sopa", food soaked in liquid. However, the term "sopaipa" is almost never encountered in practice in New Mexico, as the diminutive has replaced it in standard usage.
New Mexican sopaipillas
New Mexican sopaipillas are made from a pressed dough, like a tortilla, made of flour, a chemical leavener (normally baking powder), salt, and a solid fat. This dough is deep fried until "golden brown and delicious" (like a doughnut), causing the dough to puff and crisp, and creating a large air pocket in its center, unlike tortillas of the same region, which remain flat following preparation. The resulting fried bread is similar to Native American frybread.
The distinctive New Mexican cuisine that has developed around Santa Fe, New Mexico relies heavily on sopaipillas. The "stuffed sopaipilla" is a common entrée, particularly for lunch, in which the fried and risen sopaipilla is opened and filled with ingredients such as refried beans, cheese, diced chile peppers, and various cooked meats, commonly ground beef or chicken. Sopaipillas are also served as a side dish with other regional dishes such as enchiladas and burritos, taking the place of tortillas. It is common in New Mexican cuisine to fill a side sopaipilla with a bit of honey or honey butter, or more rarely, powdered sugar.
Commonly sold as a dessert at other restaurants that serve Mexican-style food in the United States, it is, however, unknown in Mexico itself, where the closest equivalent would be the buñuelo.
South American sopaipillas
In Chile and Argentina, a sopaipilla is a tortilla made from wheat or corn flour and roasted in the ashes in a traditional adobe oven. In Chile, it is usually fried and made from pumpkin or squash based dough.
The sopaipilla is popular in the south of Chile and Argentina. It can be salty or sweet as a dessert, when after being roasted it is boiled in sweetened water with orange peel and cinnamon.
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