(upbeat music) - [Maria] My name is Maria.

- [Sabrina] My name is Sabrina.

- [Maria] We are in Kingston, at the Village Green Community Center.

We are the proud owners of Argensal.

(upbeat music) (bright music) The people in Kingston are more like family, so they do ask about the personal stuff.

- How's your dog, and you know, like, they know us more, like family.

- We started Argensal in 2019, right before the pandemic.

So, Argensal is a combination of two words.

Argentina and El Salvador.

We built our friendship, and then we just started talking everyday, about our dream that we had.

And honestly, we hadn't heard of pop-ups.

I just knew about that from Instagram.

We just saw a gap and just thought that we could fill it.

We started doing pop-ups in Kingston, too, at Downpour, and stuff like that.

(bright music) I've seen my parents have businesses, my whole life.

In El Salvador, in here, and they're just a big inspiration, and when people ask me, what do you wanna be when you grow up, I always answered, I wanna be a business owner.

- [Sabrina] My story's a little different.

Growing up, my mom always teach me how to cook, and she's like, Sabrina, can you help me do this?

And then when I came to the States, I worked in a bed and breakfast in Mississippi, and I start in the kitchen.

And the lady teach me how to do everything.

Like Southern food.

And I never went to school but I love to cook, so we moved here in 2017 and that's when I met Maria, and then, always talk about food, and cook, and do this, and do that.

- [Maria] I definitely remember going into it, that it was gonna be a big learning curve for us, because our first job was to educate, you know?

Because it was cuisine that not a lot of people, have heard of.

And for me, it was a learning experience, because it wasn't until we started the business, that I started cooking my own food.

So, learning how to make tamales from my aunt, that was really special.

But through trial and error, I have...

I would say I've mastered it.

I made a lot of them by now.

Literally, everything is homemade.

And not only that, but there is so much love, that goes into each individual component.

There's just so much comfort, in just having someone that comes from a similar background.

- The flavor just take you back to...

If you've been in Argentina or El Salvador.

It take you back to our country.

And I think that's our purpose.

Through the food, just get a little bit of our country, our culture.

- [Maria] So I think our food is very complimentary, to each other.

There are people that put, you know, chimichurri on the pupusas, and then curtido on the empanada.

And it's just, everything goes.

- Even with different cultures, we always have each other's back.

And then... She's, like I say, she's my sister, so.

- Something that brought us together, was definitely the fact that we're both Latinas, you know?

I think since day one, it's been a family owned business.

We were friends but we were always family.

So one of our most frequently asked questions is, how can you tell the empanadas from each other, when you can't see the filling?

And we have a little trick, that is very commonly used in Argentina.

And it is in the way that you crimp the empanadas.

(bright music) - Make sure that you put your filling, in the middle of the dough.

Close it with a little bit of water, and then, we're just gonna do...

This is the traditional beef in Argentina.

Let's work on, maybe the spinach one.

And remember, always get wet, the dough, so it doesn't open when you fry or put it in the oven.

This one is gonna be a fork.

Do you wanna do it with the fork?

- [Maria] Yeah.

- You wanna go slow.

You can always press and make sure it's fully closed, so it doesn't open when you cook.

(gentle music) It looks like the same but it's laying down.

It looks like a dumpling.

This is for the caprese.

This is a new one.

It's kinda tricky.

You have to press it in there.

And...

There we go!

That's all the different ones that we have.

(gentle music) - [Maria] So whether it be savory or sweet, if you ever find yourself in a pinch, the crimping is a great way, that you can differentiate your empanadas or hand pies, or any pastry that you like.

(gentle music) And I think that, just like how people find the love of their life, I think we've found something special, I think, to that extent.

I think it's just a partnership that was meant to be, and that means the world to us.

(gentle music) - [Man] Made There is made possible, by the generous support of viewers like you, and Visit Kitsap Peninsula.

Thank you to Made There Supporting Sponsor.

The Greater Kitsap Chamber.