Posted by Robyn Lee, May 8, 2008 at 3:00 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
While I was delayed at Newark Airport on my way to Chile (curse American Airlines...curse), I killed some time by calling my friend Diana and asking what she'd like for me to bring back for her and her Chilean boyfriend, Ian.
"Negritas! Get Negritas! They're really good!"
"Get a what?"
"It's a type of biscuit. Ian's mom just brought a few bags back from Chile. ...And we ate a bag."
I wrote down the name in my notebook and made it my major goal of the trip to return back to America with a luggage's worth of this coveted cookie, not just for Ian and Diana but for other food-loving friends. And with a 10-pack bag only costing about $2, I could've filled a luggage without going broke.
Nah, I didn't go that crazy; I only bought ten bags.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, May 2, 2008 at 10:30 AM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
Just like my group's visit to a café con piernas, obtaining a completo, a Chilean hot dog impossibly overloaded with condiments, wasn't part of our itinerary. But everyone knew I wanted one. Because during the second half of our trip I would not-so-subtly remind them with each passing completo-less day that I still wanted a completo.
My last day in Chile started at Rapa Nui, a long-established restaurant in Temuco that, as far as I know, has nothing to do with being named after the indigenous name for Easter Island, but offered everything I could ever want: hot dogs and sandwiches. Looking around the dining room, we noticed other customers—from a small, young boy to an old woman—ringing in the morning with breakfast completos. We followed suit.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, April 25, 2008 at 6:30 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
My final meal in Chile was a laid-back lunch at Puerto Fuy, an upscale restaurant regarded as one of Santiago's best. In between our main courses and desserts, we were served red wine sorbet made almost instantly by our table with the aid of a steaming pot of liquid nitrogen. As one waiter poured the liquid nitrogen into a sleek white, porcelain bowl partially filled with wine, the other waiter used two spoons to constantly mix the wine and nitrogen together. After a few minutes and pourings, we were each presented with a quenelle of sorbet in a cocktail glass. The sorbet was super-smooth, less alcohol-flavored than the liquid version, and left a bit of a tingly burn at the back of my tongue from the liquid nitrogen.
After I convince myself that the dangers of liquid nitrogen won't result in some horrible injury to my person, I might just make my own liquid nitrogen ice cream.
Posted by Robyn Lee, April 24, 2008 at 6:15 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
Having only been exposed to the skinny, sugar-coated, star-shaped variety of churros, I was surprised when I came across the completely different looking Chilean version at a bakery in Temuco. A churro in Chile is like an elongated hot dog bun-shaped doughnut sandwich filled with a layer of golden dulce de leche. The dough of this churro was a bit on the heavy side, but I can't say no to sweet bread slathered in sweet, creamy goodness. Not until I get diabetes, at least.
Posted by Robyn Lee, April 24, 2008 at 11:45 AM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
"They don't serve any alcohol?" asked Jenn incredulously.
"No," insisted Carolina, our Chilean host. "They just serve coffee."
Jenn, Wes and I—the clueless Americans in Chile—were befuddled by the Chilean institution that is café con piernas, or "coffee with legs." Think Hooters, but with a focus on long legs and dainty cups of coffee instead of boobs and chicken wings. Sex appeal sans booze? Interesting. As these cafes have been around since the 1960s, the formula of coffee and legs must work pretty well.
Although visiting one of these cafes wasn't part of our original itinerary—methinks it doesn't qualify as one of the foremost attractions that the Chilean government wants to promote to outsiders—we made it a point to visit Cafe Caribe, just one of many of these types of cafes near Plaza de Armas, the main square in downtown Santiago.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, April 23, 2008 at 7:00 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
One of my new favorite ingredients that I had never come across before visiting Chile is the piñone, or pine nut. But it's not the same kind of pine nut you find in North America; these pine nuts come from the native Chilean Araucaria araucana, or monkey puzzle tree. As you can see in the photo above, taken at a small Mapuche restaurant run by Anita Epulef in the southern town of Curarrehue, these pine nuts are huge, resembling large, pointy elongated beans more than the little Tic-Tac-sized seed I'm used to. The taste is completely different too; when cooked, the dense, starchy piñone has a firm, somewhat waxy texture and has a mild flavor. You don't have to eat many of these to feel full.
Posted by Robyn Lee, April 22, 2008 at 6:30 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
I ate pastel de choclo (corn and meat pie) just twice during my week in Chile, but saw it many more times than that. Break through the crust of this baked dish and dip into a hearty, sweet and savory corn pudding flavored with garlic and onion (and other possible spices including paprika, cumin, and oregano), and laden with meat bits at the bottom. Beef and chicken seem to be most common meats, but seafood may also be mixed in. Hell, you can probably put in whatever you want as long as its smothered in the creamy corn mash. It falls into possibly the best category of edibles there is—that is, comfort food. As there is no way I'm going to ever come across rows of pastel de choclo-filled bowls here in New York, I may just have to try and make it myself.
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Photo of the Day: Clay Bowls in Pomaire, Chile
Posted by Robyn Lee, April 21, 2008 at 5:30 PM
From April 13 to 19, I traveled around Chile with two other American food journalists on a culinary media trip. Here's another snapshot from that week. —Robyn Lee
On our drive from Santiago to the winery-laden Cachapoal Valley, we stopped in Pomaire, a small village famous for its clay pottery, including bowls, baking ware, and vases in all different sizes, along with cute piggy banks. If you eat at any restaurant serving traditional food in Chile, you'll probably find that they use pottery from Pomaire. Although the village's dusty streets were mostly semi-deserted on a Tuesday morning, we were able to browse a few shops selling their super-low priced wares.
I bought four medium-sized bowls pictured above from a shop run by an old grandmotherly-type woman, each bowl costing a grand 300 Chilean pesos, or about $0.66—this is a dangerous place to be if you like stocking up on beautiful tableware without doing harm to your bank account. Unfortunately, three of the four bowls broke in my luggage when I got home (note to self: bring packing peanuts on my next trip to Pomaire), but at least the monetary loss was low.
