Empanadas de carpincho

Just got back from spending Christmas in Villa Paranacito, Entre Rios. It was lovely - eating, drinking, sunbathing, and swimming in the river. I also watched a rather surreal Nativity play put on by the local children. It had a real baby in it, and all the accompanying music was Latin - the Angel Gabriel arriving to samba rhythms with stray dogs wandering around just isn't quite right.

Apart from lots of beer and wine, and the large asado we had, I tried a new kind of empanada. Usually the filling is carne (beef), or pollo (chicken), or jamon y queso (ham and cheese). This time, there was a new kind of meat called carpincho - we tried to work out what it was in English, but we couldn't. It tasted good, anyway.

The next day down by the river, 4 lads came along with a couple of rodent-like creatures that they had captured to tame as pets. These were carpinchos, I was told. Apparently, capybaras are know here as carpinchos. I almost feel guilty for eating something that I have only seen before in zoos. But not that guilty. They shouldn't taste so good.