The event is hosted for the second time at Westland Middle School, said Veronica Fernandez, festival coordinator with Agrupacion Chile, a cultural awareness association.
Morales said he enjoys the renewed sense of community at each of the festivals — he said he knows many of his patrons by name — and it’s the expression of joy on the thousands of munching faces that keeps him working from before dawn to long after dusk.
‘‘I like to be more personal with the customers. I like the personal attention,” he said. ‘‘I think that’s very important to any business.”
Roughly 2,000 people attended last year, and even more are expected this weekend, Fernandez said.
‘‘It’s a way of ... inviting everybody to get together and have a taste of Chilean culture away from home,” Fernandez said.
It took only two hours to sell out of the 3,800 he brought last year, Morales said.
An empanada is a meatpie popular among South American countries, most of which have their own style of baking the treat, Morales said.
Guatemalan empanadas tend to include potatoes, while Bolivian empanadas use a different kind of dough, he said.
His empanadas are handcrafted from his family recipe, which include ground beef, onions, two raisins, black olives, half a boiled egg and various seasonings.
It usually takes Morales five minutes to make each one, which will sell at the festival for $3 each. They are $3.50 at his bakery.
The festival will feature 20 vendors selling food, clothes, crafts and other goods, as well as musical performances and children’s activities, such as sack and three-legged races, Fernandez said.
The timing relates with Chilean Independence Day, which is on Tuesday, and Westland Middle was selected because Chilean President Michelle Bachelet Jeria attended in the early 1960s when her father was a diplomat, Fernandez said.
The event is a big hit at Westland Middle, said English teacher and event liaison Marjorie Lope.
‘‘[Students] think it’s pretty neat that we have such a big event at our school,” Lope said. ‘‘Some of them are in awe, some of them are fascinated by it.”
Bachelet planned to attend last year, but missed the event by a couple days and isn’t expected this year, Fernandez said.
‘‘She doesn’t know what she’s missing,” Morales said with a smile.
Due to a freezer going on the fritz, he’s had to lower the goal from 5,000 empanadas to roughly 3,000, and is at about 1,400, Morales said Thursday.
‘‘But it’s going to be OK,” Morales said, noting that he’ll do the best with what he has.
Morales comes from a family with about 150 years of experience in baking, with his parents currently operating a chain of family-owned shops in Chile called San José.
‘‘I didn’t want to follow in Mom and Dad’s footsteps, but I guess it was in the blood,” Morales said with a laugh.
He came to the United States on vacation in 1983, but decided to stay shortly after the second week when he met his current wife, Deborah.
After serving as an executive chef for Marriott Hotels and a regional manager for La Madeleine, Morales opened Pistachio, at 6860 Olney-Laytonsville Road, on Sept. 5, 2005.
The name ‘‘Pistachio” came from his son, Alex, 14, who thought it was an interesting word, Morales said.
With the assistance of his family, Morales celebrated the second anniversary of opening Pistachio by cooking for the Chilean Festival.
‘‘It’s a labor of love,” he said.
Make Plans
What: The fourth annual Chilean Festival, coordinated by Agrupacion Chile,
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday
Where: Westland Middle School, 5511 Massachusetts Ave. in Bethesda. The event is being held on the sports fields behind the school.
What to expect: It will include 20 vendors with goods ranging from food to crafts along with musical performances and other activities.
For more information, e-mail agrupacionchile_washingtondc@yahoo.com.
