Pope Francis got an early treat on his flight to Cuba Saturday morning. María Antonieta Collins, senior special correspondent for Univision, surprised the pope with a box of Argentinian empanadas, a stuffed pastry made for him by immigrants in Miami. Francis looked thrilled and blessed her. He soon after shared the empanadas with all the journalists aboard the flight.
“It wasn’t easy to make the empanada surprise happen,” Collins tells TIME. “What can I give Pope Francis? Argentinian empanadas.”
Collins found a restaurant in Miami where immigrants made the treat for the pope.
It was quite the project to get the empanadas from Miami to Rome onto the papal plane and then into the pope’s hands. The empanadas at one point spent time in a freezer at the Vatican press office, Collins says.
She ended up trying to defrost them with hair dryers. She packed them in her carry-on, at times holding them in her arms, “like a baby,” she laughs.
“It was clearly worth it. Empanadas for el papa,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “The holy father was so happy and I know he told his assistant, please warm these in the oven!”
He did just that and shared them with everyone on the plane. As this reporter can attest, they were delicious.
Alitalia flight attendant serves the empanadas that were a gift to Pope Francis to journalists aboard the papal flight from Rome to Havana.Elizabeth Dias, Sept 19, 2015
Cuba's President Raul Castro escorts Pope Francis during the pope's arrival ceremony at the airport in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 19, 2015.Ramon Espinosa—APPeople react after the arrival of Pope Francis outside the airport in Havana, on Sept. 19, 2015.Claudia Daut—ReutersPeople watch as Pope Francis is shown on television as he arrives in Havana, Cuba on Sept. 19, 2015 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.Joe Raedle—Getty ImagesPeople disperse after Pope Francis' motorcade passed by in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 19, 2015.Desmond Boylan—APPeople react as Pope Francis arrives at the airport in Havana, Sept. 19, 2015.Alexandre Meneghini—ReutersPeople wave to Pope Francis in his popemobile on his way from the airport to Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 19, 2015. Ismael Francisco—APPope Francis arrives for the first mass of his visit to Cuba in Havana's Revolution Square, Sept. 20, 2015.Tony Gentile—ReutersPeople attend Pope Francis' mass at Revolution Square in Havana, on September 20, 2015.Adalberto Roque—AFP/Getty ImagesPope Francis gives mass at Revolution Square in Havana, on Sept. 20, 2015.Rodrigo Arangua—AFP/Getty ImagesPope Francis and former President of Cuba Fidel Castro during their meeting at Castro's residence in Havana, on Sept. 20, 2015.Alex Castro—Cuba Debate/EPAPope Francis flashes a thumbs up to the choir after holding a Mass in the Plaza de la Revolution in Holguin, Cuba, on Sept. 21, 2015.Joe Raedle—Getty ImagesPope Francis is greeted by Cuba's President Raul Castro as he arrives to lead a mass for Catholic faithful in the city of Holguin, Cuba, on Sept. 21, 2015. Tony Gentile—Reuters
