In Chilean Patagonia, we ate almost all our meals at the inn. The cost of living is so high in this part of the country that all travelers cook. At mealtimes, the kitchens were packed, and the atmosphere was always very friendly, with people exchanging travel tips and even recipes! Then, the further north we went, the more we ate outside!
Our favourite specialities:
– Ceviche: raw fish marinated in lemon juice, garnished with sweet potatoes, chunks of onion and coriander. Very fresh and very good.
–Completo: the benchmark sandwich, made with hot dog bun, knacki sausage, chunks of tomato and onion, topped with crushed avocado. The latter is very present in Chilean cuisine, and they’re excellent – nothing like the unripe, often tasteless ones we find here... We ate them at practically every meal!
– Pastel de choclo: This is their quiche lorraine, where minced meat is cooked with grapes and onions, then poured into a shortcrust pastry topped with corn purée, and baked au gratin.
–Chorillana: typical Latin American dish, made with pieces of beef, sausages, French fries, peppers and onions, topped with a fried egg and a beer or wine sauce. We ate it for 4 months under different names.
–Sopapillas: pancakes made from fried pumpkin flour, they were mainly found on the street, especially in Santiago, at any time of day.
–Empanadas: these turnovers filled with baked (or fried ) meat, chicken or cheese are also very common in this country. Unlike its northern neighbors, they are particularly hearty, much to our delight.
In terms of sweet treats :
–Manjar: it’s the Chilean Dulce de leche, only sweeter. We much prefer itsrgentine.
–Berlinas: Chileans are big fans of these simple doughnuts filled with Manjar or sometimes cream. But never with chocolate, which we really missed in Latin America. We made up for lost time in Australia, as we ran out of stock after our first trip to the supermarket!
–Coronas: it’s a round twist with cream, a cake without Manjar or Dulce, we were rather keen for a change.
And what else do we drink?
– Pisco sour: it’s a cocktail made with Pisco (grape alcohol), lemon and a little egg white. I can reassure you, it didn’t have a viscous texture at all. Chile and Peru each claim to be the inventor. We didn’t really care who invented what. Thanks to this, we were able to drink it for 2 months;)
–Terremoto: a cocktail made with white wine, grenadine and pineapple ice, so sweet it’s easy to drink. We’d ask for“una replica” to order the next one. The origin of its name, surely because the next day, it was a real earthquake in our heads...
– Wine: just like in Argentina, we really enjoyed ourselves. It was just to stock up before our 7 months inAsia!
As for restaurants, in Valparaíso we ate an excellent Chorillana with Pimenton and crazy empanadas at Delicias Express. In Santiago, the ice creams at Emporio Rosa were really good. And we ate Japanese food during our visits to these 2 cities, I used to eat it about 2 times a week in France (yes slightly addicted) so I was really starting to miss it!
