Cereals

Maíz (maize or corn) is a main ingredient in many dishes including pastel de choclo, the tasty traditional casserole of chicken, ground beef, olives, and other ingredients. Maize leaves serve as a wrapping for dishes such as humitas, the Chilean equivalent of Mexican tamales.

Trigo (wheat), a Spanish introduction, is primarily for pan (bread), but it’s also common as pasta. Arroz (rice) is a common agregado (side dish).

Legumes, Vegetables, and Tubers

Salads are generally safe, but short-term visitors with tender stomachs might verify whether the greens have been washed with purified water. The ensalada chilena (Chilean salad) of tomato and onion, sometimes garnished with cilantro, is one of the best options.

Porotos (beans) are traditionally the working class protein, but all Chileans eat them. Other legumes include porotos verdes (green beans), arvejas (peas), lentejas (lentils), and habas (fava beans).

In many varieties, zapallo (squash) remains part of the diet, as does the tomate (tomato). Old World vegetables include acelga (chard), berenjena (eggplant), coliflor (cauliflower), lechuga (lettuce), and repollo (cabbage). Despite the country’s name, spicy chiles (peppers) are uncommon; most Chilean cuisine is fairly bland despite the presence of chile-based ají or pebre at most meals.

Native to the Andes, papas (potatoes) grow in well-drained soils at higher elevations or higher latitudes such as the Chiloé archipelago; papas fritas (French fries) are universal, but spuds also appear as purée (mashed) and in other forms. Other common tubers include zanahorias (carrots) and rábanos (radishes).

Vegetarianism

Except in Santiago, vegetarian restaurants are few, but the ingredients for quality vegetarian meals are easy to obtain, and many eateries prepare vegetarian versions of dishes such as pasta. Before ordering pasta, clarify whether it comes with a meat sauce: Carne means beef, and waiters or waitresses may consider chicken, pork, and similar items as carne blanca (literally, white meat). Faced with a reluctant cook, try claiming alergia (allergy).

Fruits

Its seasons reversed from those of the Northern Hemisphere, temperate Chile produces the same fruits and fresh juices. Items such as manzana (apple), pera (pear), naranja (orange), ciruela (plum), sandía (watermelon), membrillo (quince), durazno (peach), frambuesa (raspberry), and frutilla (strawberry) will be familiar to almost everyone.

Also widely available, mostly through import, are tropical and subtropical fruits such as banana, chirimoya, and piña (pineapple). Less commonly consumed locally, but often exported, are nontraditional temperate fruits such as arándano (blueberry) and kiwi.

The palta (avocado), known as aguacate in its Central American area of origin, often appears in salads and sandwiches.

Meats and Poultry

Before the Spaniards, South America’s only domesticated animals were the cuy (guinea pig), the llama and alpaca, and the dog (sometimes used for food). The Spaniards enriched the diet with their domestic animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, including chicken and ducks.

Carne, often modified as carne de vacuno, or bife (beef) is the most common menu item in a variety of cuts. The widest selection is usually available in the parrillada or asado, a mixed grill that includes prime cuts but also offal such as chunchules (small intestines), morcilla (blood sausage), and riñones (kidneys). Asado can also mean a simple roast.

Cordero (lamb), often roasted on a spit over an open fire, is common in the Sur Chico and Chilean Patagonia. Cerdo (pork) appears in many forms, from chuletas (chops) to tocino (bacon) and chicharrones (rinds).

Ave (poultry) most often means pollo (chicken), which sometimes appears on menus as gallina (literally, hen). Pavo (turkey) is becoming more common. Eggs are huevos.

Fish and Seafood

Seafood includes both pescado (fish) and mariscos (shellfish and crustaceans), in abundance. The most common fish are congrio (conger eel, covering a variety of species), corvina (sea bass), lenguado (sole or flounder), and merluza (hake); salmón (salmon) comes from controversial fish farms on the inlets, fjords, and freshwater lakes of the Sur Chico and Aisén.

The cheapest restaurants often ruin quality fish by preparing it frito (overpoweringly deep fried), but on request almost all will prepare it a la plancha (grilled, usually with butter) or al vapor (steamed). Higher-priced restaurants will add elaborate sauces, often with shellfish.

Chilean cuisine really distinguishes itself in its mariscos. Most visitors will recognize the relatively commonplace almejas (clams), calamares (squid), camarones (shrimp), cangrejo or jaiva (crab), centolla (king crab), cholgas and choritos (different varieties of mussels), machas (razor clams), ostiones (scallops), ostras (oysters), and pulpo (octopus). Less familiar will be the choro zapato (“shoe mussel,” so called for its enormous size); erizos (sea urchins, an acquired taste often exported to Japan); the oddly named locos (giant abalone, literally “crazies”); picoroco (giant barnacle); and piure (resembling a dirty sponge, according to food writer Robb Walsh). Many of these have closed seasons, when they may not be taken, so be aware.

Seafood often appears in the form of ceviche, raw fish or shellfish heavily marinated in lime juice and spiced with cilantro. River trout from Patagonia is also common. On the Juan Fernández archipelago and Easter Island, langosta (literally lobster, though really a crayfish) is a premium menu item.

Among seafood specialties worth looking for are chupes (thick, buttery stews) of congrio, jaiva, and locos, and curanto, a kitchen-sink stew that can include fish, shellfish, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, potato, and vegetables.

Desserts

Helado (ice cream) is popular, but quality is only so-so except in the capital and major beach resorts, where elaboración artesanal (small-scale production) is more common. Arroz con leche (rice pudding) and flan (egg custard) are better choices except in the Sur Chico, Patagonia, and scattered places elsewhere, where German immigrants have left a legacy of kuchen (pastries such as apple strudel and raspberry tarts). Chileans also adore manjar, the caramelized milk spread known as dulce de leche in Argentina.

International and Ethnic Food

Santiago, one of the continent’s underappreciated gastronomic centers, has the greatest variety of international food, though some tourist-oriented areas also have good selections. Italian and Chinese are the most common foreign cuisines—chifa is a common term for inexpensive Chinese restaurants in the Norte Grande—but French, German, and Spanish food is also plentiful. Brazilian, Mexican, and Middle Eastern cuisines are less common; some world food cuisines, such as Thai and especially Japanese sushi, are gaining popularity.

© Wayne Bernhardson from Moon Chile, 2nd edition