Comida t铆pica chilena
San Vicente 375, Santiago, Regi贸n Metropolitana, Chile
Habiendo estado algunos a帽os alejada de Latinoam茅rica, ten铆a muchas expectativas con respecto a encontrarme de nuevo con todos esos sabores que mi paladar reconoce como aut贸ctonos. La gastronom铆a es, sin duda, una forma de reconocernos como individuos que pertenecen a un lugar especial.
Sin embargo antes de emprender mi viaje, recib铆 muchas advertencias y manifestaciones de preocupaci贸n por parte de las personas que all铆 me esperaban, personas que conocen muy bien cuanta importancia le doy a la comida. Seg煤n ellos, no deb铆a hacerme muchas ilusiones, porque el pa铆s en cuesti贸n no destaca principalmente por su cultura gastron贸mica.
Yo tengo la firme convicci贸n de que en cualquier regi贸n del mundo se puede comer bien, solo es cuesti贸n de comprender realmente en qu茅 se basa su cultura y entender en d贸nde buscar de forma correcta el plato indicado.
Pero tras constantes avisos y negativas a mis hip贸tesis, decid铆 pensar de forma objetiva cu谩ntos platos de comida chilena conoc铆a o podr铆an conseguirse f谩cilmente en el extranjero, descubri茅ndome casi del todo ignorante. Las posibilidades que se me ocurr铆an, a parte de la empanada chilena, resultaban de una procedencia totalmente distinta y en mi cabeza, las referencias al pa铆s eran sobre todo de literatura, m煤sica y pol铆tica.
Entonces me propuse, con m谩s ah铆nco de lo normal, estudiar las costumbres gastron贸micas de las posibles ciudades que visitar铆a durante mi estancia. Sobre todo, quer铆a intentar comprender cu谩les son esos sabores que el ciudadano chileno reconoce como reconfortantes y placenteros. No pod铆a permitirme ir sin al menos el conocimiento b谩sico, siendo que los me esperaban ten铆an tan poca fe al respecto.
Being some years away from Latin America, I had high expectations about rediscovering all those flavors that my palate recognizes as autochthonous. Gastronomy is, without a doubt, a way of identifying ourselves as individuals who belong to a special place.
However, before embarking on my trip, I received many warnings and expressions of concern from the people who were waiting for me there, people who know very well how much importance I give to food. According to them, I shouldn't have too many expectations, because the country in question doesn't stand out for its gastronomic culture.
I have the firm conviction that in any region of the planet you can eat well, it's just a matter of understanding what their culture is based on and where to look for the right dish.
But after constant warnings and refusals to my hypotheses, I decided to think objectively how many Chilean food dishes I knew or could be easily obtained abroad, discovering myself almost completely ignorant. The possibilities I could think of, apart from the Chilean empanada, were of a totally different origin and, in my head, the references to the country were mostly literature, music and politics.
So I set out, more than usual, to study the gastronomic customs of the possible cities I would visit during my stay. I especially wanted to try hard to understand what are those flavors that the Chilean citizen recognizes as comforting and pleasurable. I couldn't allow myself to go without at least the basic knowledge, since those who were waiting for me had so little faith in this regard.
No puedo continuar sin destacar lo maravilloso que es llegar a Chile, tras estar atravesando el intenso invierno europeo y encontrarme con un hermoso clima veraniego al otro lado del mundo, una experiencia espectacular. Todos los 谩rboles coloridos y el sol radiante ba帽ando el contraste arquitect贸nico que existe en la ciudad capital.
La amiga que me recibi贸, quien es muy diestra en la cocina, entendi贸 r谩pidamente el tipo de cosas que yo quer铆a probar de primero en la ciudad. Creo que para poder hacerse una idea real de lo que es probar la comida t铆pica, hay que ir a los lugares que se esfuerzan en mantener las tradiciones, sin adulterar o modernizar los platos. Despu茅s de eso, puedo tener un criterio base para saborear cualquier invenci贸n que me presenten.
As铆 que decidi贸 llevarme al restaurante El Hoyo, un local centenario ubicado en la comuna de Estaci贸n Central y ampliamente reconocido por elaborar platos emblem谩ticos de la cocina Nacional y haber inventado una bebida muy popular llamada Terremoto.
Mientras nos acerc谩bamos al establecimiento, me comentaba que no se trataba de nada glamoroso, por lo que no me esperara una de esas cosas del primer mundo de las que ven铆a. Me caus贸 gracia, pero eso era exactamente lo que yo estaba buscando, algo que me permitiera conectar con la gente local desde el primer d铆a.
A pesar de estar muy entusiasmada nuestra elecci贸n, tambi茅n lo estaba por reencontrarme con una entra帽able amiga que hac铆a unos 5 a帽os que no ve铆a, por lo que estaba menos atenta a retratar cualquier cosa que estuviera a mi paso que en mis usuales recorridos en solitario.
Por este motivo, ahora mientras escribo, me percato que no repar茅 en hacer alguna fotograf铆a del restaurante, hubiese sido simp谩tico poder compartir el ambiente tan rural y distendido del restaurante. Con sus pendones colgando en el exterior que anunciaban los platos ofrecidos y sus mesas dispuestas para atender r谩pidamente a cualquiera que se acercara a comer sin ganas de perder el tiempo.
Algo que me hab铆a preocupado era la hora en que salimos a comer, pues ten铆a la idea de que los establecimientos atend铆an en turnos de comida y no me esperaba que hubiese sitios que serv铆an en horario continuo, cosa que me pareci贸 super conveniente. En El hoyo puedes llegar sin importar la hora y siempre habr谩 comida disponible para cubrir tus necesidades, es verdad que alg煤n plato con mucha demanda pudiera dejar de estar disponible, pues nos sucedi贸, pero disponen de muchas alternativas para subsanar esto.
I cannot go on without mentioning how wonderful it is to arrive in Chile, after going through the intense European winter and find a beautiful summer climate on the other side of the world, a spectacular experience. All the colorful trees and the radiant sun bathing the architectural contrast that exists in the capital city.
The friend who greeted me, who is very skilled in the kitchen, quickly understood the kind of things I wanted to try first in the city. I think that in order to get a real idea of what it is to taste typical food, you have to go to places that strive to maintain traditions, without adulterating or modernizing the dishes. After that, I can have a base criteria to savor any invention presented to me.
So she decided to take me to the restaurant El Hoyo, a centennial establishment located in the commune of Estaci贸n Central and widely recognized for elaborating emblematic dishes of the National cuisine and having invented a very popular drink called Terremoto.
As we approached the establishment, he commented to me that it was nothing glamorous, so I shouldn't expect one of those first world things I came from. I found it hilarious, but that was exactly what I was looking for, something that would let me connect with the locals from day one.
As excited as I was about our choice, I was also enthusiastic about reconnecting with a dear friend I hadn't seen in about 5 years, so I was less intent on portraying anything in my path than I was on my usual solo tours.
For this reason, now as I write, I realize that I didn't bother to take a picture of the restaurant, it would have been nice to be able to share the rural and relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant. With its banners hanging outside announcing the dishes on offer and its tables ready to quickly serve anyone who came to eat without wanting to waste time.
Something that had worried me was the time we went out to eat, because I had the idea that the establishments served in shifts and I didn't expect that there were places that served continuous hours, which I found super convenient. In El hoyo you can arrive regardless of the time and there will always be food available to meet your needs, it is true that a dish in high demand may not be available, as it happened to us, but they have many alternatives to remedy this.
Al acercarnos surgi贸 repentinamente un camarero que sin perder tiempo nos ubic贸 en una mesa central con mucho m谩s espacio del que necesitar铆amos las dos, pero que result贸 ser bastante c贸moda y nos permiti贸 estar muy a gusto. Mi amiga le pregunt贸 por un par de cosas que ella consideraba importantes que yo probara y alguna, que sinceramente no recuerdo ahora, ya no estaba disponible.
Nos dej贸 a disposici贸n las cartas para que pudieramos ir valorando nuestras opciones y nos tom贸 orden de las bebidas. Yo quer铆a comenzar a probar las cervezas m谩s t铆picas y entre las que ofrec铆an mi amiga eligi贸 para m铆 la que seg煤n ella era la mejor, aunque para si misma se decant贸 por un batido de fruta natural.
Lo del batido fue muy gracioso pues entre las opciones que hab铆a pidi贸 uno por el que posteriormente volvi贸 el camarero y dijo que ya no estaba disponible, as铆 que ella lo cambi贸 por uno de mango pero termin贸 recibiendo en la mesa uno de frutos rojos. Una situaci贸n muy curiosa de la que ademas nos percatamos mucho despu茅s de haber probado las bebidas.
En ese momento no ca铆 en cuenta de preguntar sobre el famoso terremoto, pero creo que tampoco hubiese sido indicado pedirlo en ese momento, una bebida a base de vino blanco y helado no era lo que m谩s hubiese disfrutado con la comida.
En cambio recib铆 la cerveza Kunstmann Torobayo, una Pale Ale a base de cebada que me encant贸. Mi amiga me dijo que de las cervezas industriales del pa铆s, esta es la mas sabrosa y al final creo que tiene mucha raz贸n, se sienten ligeramente acaramelada sin ser muy pesada y da gusto tomarla.
Por otro lado, ver la carta me caus贸 mucha alegr铆a, pues dispon铆an de varios platos de los que hab铆a investigado al respecto. Ella dijo que ten铆amos que empezar por lo indispensable as铆 que, viendo que entend铆a bien de lo que hablaba, me dej茅 aconsejar para escoger platos a compartir y despu茅s de varios intercambios de ya, una muletilla muy com煤n en la cultura chilena que por lo que entend铆 significa s铆, entre ella y el camarero, realizamos nuestra orden.
As we approached a waiter suddenly appeared and, wasting no time, placed us at a central table with much more space than we would both need, but which turned out to be quite comfortable and allowed us to be very at ease. My friend asked him for a couple of things she thought were important for me to try and some, which I honestly don't remember now, were no longer available.
He left the menus for us so that we could evaluate our options and took our drink orders. I wanted to start tasting the most typical beers and among those offered my friend chose for me the one she thought was the best, although for herself she opted for a natural fruit smoothie.
The smoothie was very funny because among the options she asked for one that later the waiter came back and said it was no longer available, so she changed it for a mango one but ended up receiving a red fruit one at the table. A very curious situation that we noticed long after we had tasted the drinks.
At that moment I didn't realize to ask about the famous terremoto, but I don't think it would have been appropriate to order it at that moment either, a drink based on white wine and ice cream was not what I would have enjoyed the most with the meal.
Instead I received the Kunstmann Torobayo beer, a barley-based Pale Ale that I loved. My friend told me that of the industrial beers in the country, this is the tastiest and in the end I think she is quite right, it feels slightly caramelized without being too heavy and is a delight to drink.
On the other hand, seeing the menu made me very happy, as they had several dishes that I had researched. She said we had to start with the basics so, seeing that she understood well what she was talking about, I let her advise me to choose dishes to share and after several exchanges of ya, a very common crutch in Chilean culture that from what I understood means yes, between her and the waiter, we placed our order.
Mientras esper谩bamos los platos principales nos trajeron a la mesa un pebre, que es una especie de dip salado con cierto deje picante, acompa帽ado de unos panes llamados marraqueta muy t铆picos. Esto no lo ordenamos pero me indic贸 mi amiga que es lo normal en los restaurantes ofrecer esto de aperitivo, por lo que volvi贸 a llamar al camarero y le pidi贸 que nos trajera tambi茅n un Pebre premium que hab铆a visto en la carta, pues esperaba que fuese una versi贸n m谩s real del plato que la muestra que acompa帽aba los panes.
En efecto, al traernos el pebre premium pudimos apreciar que la diferencia era considerable. Ella me explico que esto es lo que normalmente te servir铆an como pebre y que suele comerse con la marraqueta, un pan alrededor del cual gira cierta controversia pues nadie termina de concretar si una marraqueta es que pan completo que parece estar dividido en cuatro partes o mas bien, es una de los trozos que se desprenden de 茅l. Curiosidades gastron贸micas.
En fin, a m铆 me supo a pan salado latino y eso fue suficiente para hacerme sentir como en casa, porque hay algo que aun no logro reconocer que hace que la textura de estos sea muy particular. El pebre a pesar de estar muy rico no lo termin茅 debido a que lo sent铆a muy picante y eso es algo que yo no tolero muy bien, era una especie de pico de gallo que resultaba refrescante en ese clima c谩lido, l谩stima lo del picante porque era una elecci贸n muy acertada.
Despu茅s de esto lleg贸 e plato estrella: El pastel de choclo. Este plato es t铆pico no solo de chile sino de otros pa铆ses latinoamericanos, solo que cada uno tiene su versi贸n. En Santiago este es uno de los platos insignes en las festividades y ocasiones especiales.
Este plato est谩 compuesto de un guiso de carne al que llaman pino, lo que utilizan para rellenar las empanadas chilenas tambi茅n, que junto a un muslo de pollo conformaban el relleno de nuestro plato, al que cubren por encima con una mezcla de ma铆z dulce que se dora al hornear.
El camarero al servirlo nos pregunt贸 si quer铆amos que le quemaran az煤car por encima, a lo que mi amiga dijo que no, cosa que yo agradec铆 porque ya me imaginaba que seria lo suficientemente dulce por el m铆as. Ella me explic贸 que es muy usual que la gente lo pida con m谩s az煤car quemada por encima, pero que ella deduc铆a por la capa tostada que algo de az煤car encima ya deb铆a contener.
A m铆 me gust贸 much铆simo y ella me confes贸 que era uno de los platos de la comida local que m谩s le gusta pedir cuando com铆a fuera. Por supuesto, a mi el contraste de los platos dulce-salados me gusta mucho por lo que este esta en su punto, sin embargo me parece un poco pesado como plato 煤nico, las raciones en El Hoyo son bastante grandes, as铆 que el potente sabor de este plato me parece un poco pesado para comer solo esto.
Este plato no estaba en la carta, no s茅 por qu茅 la verdad pero mi amiga pregunt贸 por el nada m谩s llegar y el camarero lo confirm贸 energicamente. Yo creo que es un buen plato para compartir como hicimos nosotras, pero tengo entendido que ning煤n chileno dejar铆a de comerse su raci贸n de pastel de choclo completa.
While we were waiting for the main courses they brought us to the table a pebre, which is a kind of salty dip with a certain spiciness, accompanied by some very typical bread called marraqueta. This we didn't order but my friend pointed out to me that it is the custom in restaurants to offer this as an appetizer, so she called the waiter back and asked him to also bring us a Pebre premium that she had seen on the menu, as she hoped it would be a more real version of the dish than the sample that accompanied the breads.
Indeed, when he brought us the premium pebre we could appreciate that the difference was considerable. She explained to me that this is what you would normally be served as pebre and that it is usually eaten with the marraqueta, a bread around which there is some controversy because no one is sure if a marraqueta is a complete bread that seems to be divided into four parts or rather, it is one of the pieces that come off of it. Gastronomic curiosities.
Anyway, it tasted like salty Latin bread to me and that was enough to make me feel at home, because there is something that I still can't recognize that makes the texture of these breads very particular. The pebre despite being very tasty I didn't finish it because it was too spicy and that's something I don't tolerate very well, it was a kind of pico de gallo that was refreshing in that hot weather, too bad about the spiciness because it was a very good choice.
After this came the star dish: El Pastel de choclo. This dish is typical not only in Chile but also in other Latin American countries, but each one has its own version. In Santiago this is one of the flagship dishes in festivities and special occasions.
This dish is composed of a meat stew called pino, which they use to stuff the Chilean empanadas as well, which together with a chicken thigh made up the filling of our dish, covered on top with a mixture of sweet corn that browns in the oven.
The waiter asked us if we wanted sugar burned on top, to which my friend said no, something I was grateful for because I figured it would be sweet enough for mine. She explained to me that it is very common for people to ask for it with more burnt sugar on top, but that she deduced from the toasted layer that it must already contain some sugar already.
I liked it very much and she confessed that it was one of the local dishes she most likes to order when eating out. Of course, I like the contrast of sweet-salty dishes a lot so this one is just right, however I find it a bit heavy as a single dish, the portions at El Hoyo are quite big, so the strong flavor of this dish seems a bit heavy to eat alone.
This dish was not on the menu, I don't know why but my friend asked for it as soon as we arrived and the waiter confirmed it energetically. I think it is a good dish to share as we did, but I understand that no Chilean would fail to eat a full portion of pastel de choclo.
Junto al plato anterior vino nuestra segunda elecci贸n, en este caso fui yo quien insisti贸 un poco en elegir este plato porque sent铆a mucha curiosidad, adem谩s que me pareci贸 que har铆a un buen contraste con lo denso del *pastel de choclo.
El Arrollado Huaso* es una elaboraci贸n a base de cerdo, consiste en enrollar dentro de la piel del cerdo varios cortes de carne de este animal, se amarra bien y se cuece con una mezcla de especias durante varias horas. Mi amiga me contaba que era un plato m谩s t铆pico del interior del pa铆s que de la ciudad, pero que ten铆a mucha relevancia.
Cuando lo recibimos sinceramente me impresion贸 que parec铆a un poco seco, algo que no hab铆a considerado al pensar que si se cocina en agua deber铆a estar jugoso, pero imagino que lo mantienen fuera del caldo despu茅s de prepararlo, lo que no entiendo es porque no usan ese caldo para servirlo.
Pero esto lo comento por desconocimiento, me imagino que la versi贸n oficial es as铆 porque en todas las fotos que vi posteriormente se ve铆a sin ning煤n tipo de caldo. Pero eso no signific贸 para nada que fuese dif铆cil de comer, de hecho estaba lo suficientemente tierno y a mi me gust贸 bastante comerlo.
Es un plato que parece simple pero tiene un sabor agradable y no se siente pesado. Mi amiga es de la opini贸n que le falta potencia de sabor y quiz谩 alguna salsa, pero entonces eso ser铆a otra versi贸n o un plato totalmente diferente.
Lo que no me termin贸 de gustar fueron las papas que lo acompa帽aban, al principio me pareci贸 genial lo grande que eran y lo tostadas que estaban, realmente ten铆an buena textura pero carec铆an de sabor, no s茅 que tan relevante sea el cultivo de papas en Chile pero la calidad de estas que prob茅 no era del todo satisfactoria.
Along with the previous dish came our second choice, in this occasion I was the one who insisted a little on choosing this dish because I was very curious, besides I thought it would make a good contrast with the dense pastel de choclo.
The Arrollado Huaso is a pork-based preparation, it consists of rolling several cuts of pork meat inside the pork skin, it is tied well and cooked with a mixture of spices for several hours. My friend told me that it was a dish more typical of the provinces than of the city, but that it had a lot of relevance.
When we received it I was honestly impressed that it seemed a little dry, something I hadn't considered thinking that if it is cooked in water it should be juicy, but I imagine that they keep it out of the broth after preparing it, what I don't understand is why they don't use that broth to serve it.
But I am commenting this out of ignorance, I imagine that the official version is so because in all the photos I saw afterwards it looked without any broth. But that didn't mean at all that it was difficult to eat, in fact it was tender enough and I really enjoyed eating it.
It's a dish that looks simple but has a nice flavor and doesn't feel heavy. My friend is of the opinion that it lacks flavor punch and maybe some sauce, but then that would be another version or a totally different dish.
What I didn't like were the potatoes that accompanied it, at first I thought it was great how big they were and how crispy they were, they really had good texture but lacked flavor, I don't know how relevant is the crop of potatoes in Chile but the quality of these that I tasted was not entirely satisfactory.
Terminamos m谩s que satisfechas con nuestra orden y sobre todo yo estaba muy contenta porque el resultado de esta primera expedici贸n gastron贸mica me pareci贸 todo un 茅xito.
El camareros nos pregunto al momento de pedirle la cuenta si inclu铆s en ella la propina de una vez, algo que mi amiga respondi贸 que si porque yo no hab铆a entendido a qu茅 se refer铆a, utiliz贸 otra palabra que yo no hab铆a asociado a ello. Es algo que adem谩s hab铆a olvidado, porque antes de irnos le dije a ella que si dej谩bamos al menos algunas monedas de propina y me explic贸 que ya lo hab铆an cobrado.
Esto es algo que no suele ser tan recurrente en Espa帽a y es por eso que lo hab铆a olvidado, en los pa铆ses de Am茅rica en general al menos el 10% de propina suele ser una obligaci贸n para el cliente, en Espa帽a mucha gente se salta la costumbre de dejar propina a menos que sea un restaurante muy formal o una ocasi贸n especial y aun as铆 muchas veces el monto que se deja es muy por debajo del 10%. La cuenta total con la propina fueron aproximadamente 40,00 $ por las dos.
Tengo que finalizar retomando la agradable experiencia que tuve en el restaurante El Hoyo, no puedo asegurar que sea el mejor de la capital para degustar la comida t铆pica casera porque mi estancia fue muy breve como para probar muchos lugares, pero sin duda esta es una de las recomendaciones que no dejar铆an indiferente a alguien a quien le interese aprender las bases de la gastronom铆a chilena.
Adem谩s despu茅s me enter茅 que el afamado chef Anthony Bourdain realizo una visita a este lugar y disfrut贸 de varios de sus platos t铆picos. Sinceramente yo en Bourdain confiaba bastante, as铆 que no queda mucho m谩s que decir.
We ended up more than satisfied with our order and above all I was very happy because the result of this first gastronomic expedition seemed to me to be a success.
The waiter asked us when we asked for the bill if you include in it the tip at once, something that my friend answered yes because I had not understood what he meant, he used another word that I didn't associate with it. It is something I had also forgotten, because before we left I asked her if we should leave at least a few coins as a tip and she explained that they had already charged it.
This is something that is not so common in Spain and that is why I forgot it, in American countries in general at least 10% tip is usually an obligation for the customer, in Spain many people skip the custom of leaving a tip unless it is a very formal restaurant or a special occasion and even then often the amount left is well below 10%. The total bill with tip was approximately $40.00 for the two of us.
I have to finish by returning to the pleasant experience I had in the restaurant El Hoyo, I can not say for sure that it is the best in the capital to taste the typical homemade food because my stay was too short to try many places, but certainly this is one of the recommendations that would not leave indifferent someone who is interested in learning the basics of Chilean cuisine.
I also found out later that the famous chef Anthony Bourdain visited this place and enjoyed several of its typical dishes. Honestly, I trusted Bourdain quite a lot, so there is nothing much left to say.
隆Gracias por pasarte por aqu铆!
Iconos de: Iconfinder
Capturas de pantalla tomadas por m铆 desde mi mac.
Todas las fotograf铆as de este post han sido tomadas por m铆 con mi Iphone 11 y me pertenecen.