Chilean cuisine

Unlike most German kitchens, Chilean cuisine consists of four meals. However, breakfast is a bit more sparse and doesn't take much time. In most cases, it includes white bread with butter and cheese or jam, or mashed avocado and scrambled eggs. It is usually accompanied by tea, especially chamomile tea (infusión de manzanilla) or coffee with milk.

For lunch, there is almost always pork, beef, or poultry. The side dishes usually consist of (sweet) potatoes, rice, or quinoa, and various salads that are typically seasoned with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and lemon. Key ingredients in Chilean cuisine include tomatoes, onions, avocado, lemon, and meat. It is noticeable that in Chile, cooking is often done almost exclusively with fresh ingredients, such as vegetables, and very few sauces are prepared to accompany them.

The third meal of the day, tomar once, is taken in the late afternoon and includes tea and a smaller snack, such as fruits, nuts, or bread.

The typical hot dinner (cena) is usually only consumed on weekends or for special occasions, and its preparation is similar to that of lunch. Typically, it is served very late, and sometimes cooking doesn't even start until 10 or 11 p.m.

Traditional Chilean dishes include empanadas, which are filled pastries that can be filled with various ingredients, and completos, a type of hot dog that can be found on every corner in Chile. The most common and popular type of empanada is probably the empanada de pino: a pastry filled with beef, egg, olives, and raisins or sultanas.

Another classic dish is pastel de choclo, which is usually prepared in individual portions in deep plates. It contains ground beef, olives, onions, eggs, and raisins or sultanas in the bottom half, and a corn-butter-milk mixture in the top half. Once it has been baked, the top becomes firm and can be refined with sugar.

I was surprised to find that you can even buy some German products in Chilean supermarkets. For example, you can find stollen, Westphalian whole grain bread, or cakes ('Zitronenkuchen', 'Früchtekuchen', ...) under their German names on the shelves. Another way to try different food cultures in Chile is through Peruvian, German, Chinese, or Thai restaurants. Famous fast food chains like McDonald's, Burger King, or Subway are also widespread here.

Chilean supermarket

Some of the most famous sweets in Chile are dulces chilenos, which are made of white meringue and are usually filled with manjar. Manjar is a sweet spread made from boiled milk and sugar, which can be found in every supermarket. It is also often diluted with some milk and eaten with various fruits, such as bananas. This manjar-milk mixture is called dulce de leche.

Another popular treat is called alfajores, which consist of two cookies with a dulce de leche filling and are coated in dark or white chocolate.