They come in many varieties, both sweet and savoury. The shell may be made of wheat, corn, or plantain flour, and the stuffing can be meat, seafood, cheese or jam. The Bolivian version, the salte a, is a fried corn meal shell with meat and vegetable filling. The Ecuadorian empanada de verde is a crispy fried plantain flour shell, filled with either meat, seafood or cheese. Ceviche is generally a marinated fish or seafood cocktail, although it can also be prepared with chicken, mushrooms or palm hearts.
Preparation varies from place to place and also depends on the principal ingredient.
Raw fish is marinated with sliced red onions and hot peppers in abundant lemon juice, and served with cancha , a corn ring, and sweet potatoes. Although the Spanish word sopa seems self explanatory, one can easily be fooled by thinking it refers exclusively to soup. This is a portion of either rice or spaghetti. In Paraguay, your sopa paraguaya will not come steaming in a bowl, as it is a corn and cheese dumpling, not soup at all. Sopa borracha and sopa de gloria in Panama are cakes made with rum, cream, and fruit.