Comida

People have asked about Chilean food, and I have thought about what I like and what I miss, so now I am going to write about it. It's a good time, since last night I went out for dinner with a Chilean friend and had one of their specialties, "Pastel de Choclo." It's ground beef, onions, and chicken, with a hard boiled egg and an olive thrown in for good measure, baked in a casserole dish with a thick corn bread top crust (choclo=corn). I think if it much like chicken pot pie--kind of a weird combination of flavors, but also kind of hearty and comforting, if you're in the right mood.

I am a fan of empanadas (dumpling/turnover things), either traditional pino (the ground beef-onion-hard boiled egg-olive filling), or cheese, or something fancy. They're just a great satisfying lunch food. The steaks are not so great, although their "a lo pobre" method of serving steak with a fried egg on top does make cheap, thin meat more moist and filling. Fish here is generally good, and salmon is cheap. Other than these highlights, traditional Chilean meals are pretty "meat and potatoes," so not that exciting. I must admit, though, that my exposure to actual Chilean cooking comes only through meals at the Villa, where they have a very tight budget, and occasionally at restaurants. At home, Taylor and I cook pretty much the same stuff we do in California--stir fry, pizza, fish, and even Indian food because we surprisingly found most of the spices here. Finding the right ingredients is generally not the biggest problem (with some notable exceptions)--the greatest challenge is cooking with our incredibly limited and poorly made selection of pots and pans. I know I shouldn't complain because we do have a fully functioning kitchen, but on the other hand we may be getting cancer from our thin and disintegrating "non-stick" frying pans.

Everyone talks about how great the produce is in Chile--fresh, tasty, and cheap. Well, maybe at the central market it is, but at the supermarket it has been disappointing, and even at the real market...I have definitely been spoiled by California, and Berkeley in particular, because I really don't think it's all that special.

So, on to what I miss. #1, by far, is normal milk. Milk that hasn't been ultra-pasteurized such that you can leave it on a shelf forever until you open it. Milk belongs in the refrigerator, period. I love fresh, cold milk but I am totally squeamish about anything other than skim-to-2% normally pasteurized milk, so I haven't had a drop to drink since I've been here. For breakfast I eat yogurt with granola, because I can't have cereal with weird milk. That's definitely the first thing I will savor when I get home--a tall glass of cold, 1% milk and a bowl of cereal. Probably Cheerios.

What else do I miss? I'm sure there is more but I can't think of it now. In general we buy the same stuff every week so there are no surprises, but it's annoying when we want to try something new and discover they don't have it here. Like tonight I am making brownies for a dinner party, and I discovered that they have no unsweetened baking chocolate or chocolate chips.

Finally, one thing I've adopted here that I'll probably bring home with me--I've kicked my Coke habit and have become addicted to "agua con gas." Light gas preferably--lightly sparkling water. Here it is everywhere and it costs the same as regular water (tap water is perfectly safe but it has a strong mineral taste), whereas at home it is fancy and expensive. We might have to join Costco so I can keep buying San Pellegrino.