Piece of Cake: Huge Pastry Made in Argentina for Down Syndrome Charity

An 80-meters-long empanada, a Latin American stuffed meat pastry, was made by a team of expert chefs and almost 100 collaborators in Buenos Aires on Sunday to collect funds for Argentina’s Down Syndrome Association and (ASDRA) encourage the integration of people with disabilities.

The chefs and participating members of ASDRA used over 350 kg of dough, 120 kg of cheese and 30kg of ham for the giant dish that took four hours to cook. It was then divided into around 4,000 units, which were sold to the public. Each buyer could buy two portions of empanada and a beverage for 30 pesos (US $2.10) which was donated to the Down Syndrome Association of Argentina.

"This is an event of solidarity to raise awareness among general society, including children, about Down syndrome," Diego Davila, one of the chefs, told Xinhua.

"The empanada is a traditional Argentinean dish. It was brought over by the Spanish but has since been adapted with our ingredients," he said.

The event was organized by a municipal government and a number of organizations, including Buenos Aires' Federation of Commerce and Industry. Along with fundraising, it aimed to encourage businesses to hire people suffering from Down syndrome and other conditions associated with intellectual disability.