They are crisp, airy turnovers filled with cheese.

Samosas ($3.50), turnovers filled with potatoes and vegetables, are familiar Indian take-out fare, but rarely are they as crisp and distinctive as these.

These include the different vegetables from their garden and the panzerotti and calzoncini, tiny fried turnovers filled with fresh ricotta or ham.

The meat pie - at least the version that Natchitoches claims as its own - is a kind of turnover filled with a beef, pork and spicy seasonings.

In addition to meat loaf and burgers, a customer can get rice and beans, as well as pastelitos, flaky turnovers filled with meat.

Boulanee kadou ($3.25) is an unusual fried turnover filled with pureed pumpkin, fragrant with cinnamon and nutmeg and almost sweet enough for dessert.

Stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats such as salami, capicola and bresaola or vegetables.

In a bow to Southern tradition, the Varsity also serves buttermilk by the glass and fried pies: deep-fried turnovers filled with sweet apple or peach preserves.

A superior starter is the empanaditas de picadillo, little turnovers filled with shredded beef, raisins and olives.

Later, Cantonese/Hakka influences developed the Jamaican patty, an empanada styled turnover filled with spiced meat.