Food

I've mentioned before how much I love food. Everyone loves food, I suppose, but I really love following my food. I follow it from the market where I pick it out, to the pantry where I store it, and to the stovetop, oven, or plate where I prepare it. I even enjoy cleaning up after the food is gone.

Meals are so important. Not just food, and not just eating, but having a meal. Whether you're eating alone or with others, having a meal is really important, and I think we often lose sight of that in the US. 

At school and at work, most of us don't have a lot of time to really share meals. We scarf down our food quickly (in a 22 minute window at Cosby, for students and teachers alike) and a lot of times we don't even eat at a table. Out of necessity we eat in the car or at our desks or in front of the TV, and sometimes that's fine. People get busy, and preparing a large spread isn't always a priority. But, when I can, I love to have an actual meal. Most of my favorite memories of growing up are centered around meals. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with my family, birthdays and graduation parties around cakes, fireworks and celebration around grills and coolers... sharing meals is so important, and that's one thing I'm trying to make time for in Chile.

So, what kinds of meals have we had so far?

I said before that Chileans don't eat out quite as much as gringos do. Many meals are eaten (or at least prepared and later packed) at home. I like that for a couple of reasons. Number one - I like home-cooked meals (whether I make them or someone else does). Number two - it's economical. It's usually cheaper to eat at home.

Matt and I have had most of our meals at home. 

Luckily, we have this beautiful kitchen to prepare meals in. Lunch has been our biggest meal of the day. I'm not sure how that'll change when we start getting busy with work, but so far I like it a lot. It makes more sense to eat your big meal of the day at lunch, when you need the energy to power through the rest of the day.

Here have been some of my favorite recipes so far: 

Lentils with garlic, onions, and carrots, topped with pickle, tomato, and avocado.

Risotto with mushroms and peas.

Not pictures was one of my favorites: fresh spring rolls (moist rice paper) with lettuce, avocado, carrots, cabbage, and cucumber served with a spicy dipping sauce. There's plenty of fresh produce that keeps us full and happy.

Also not pictured are our dinners. Our dinners have been small and standard: salad. We've been making salads with different lettuces and cabbages, supplemented by carrots, cucumbers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and, of course, avocado. Salads here are dressed with olive oil and vinegar, and sometimes lemon. There aren't many creamy dressings like ranch or caesar. 

We've also been enjoying snacks, like:

This huge jar of pickles. I love pickles; they're nice and crunchy.

Nuts and dried fruits. They have a lot of protein.

We also like to snack on peanut butter (we found some - not always easy to do outside of the United States - a lot of countries consider peanut butter a truly bizarre food, even though we eat it all the time in the US), veggies like baby carrots, and the occasional sweet.

What have we been drinking?

Agua.

We've been drinking water. I was scared it might take us a while to adjust to the water, as sometimes travelers have tummy troubles when drinking the water in foreign countries. But: so far, so good. Lots of places have fresh fruit juices here, and lots of places have wine and pisco (a popular alcohol), but I've mostly stuck with water. For my students - I still carry around my purple water bottle. It's traveled quite a bit!

We did go out to eat once (kind of twice).

Our first day in Chile, we went to a restaurant, owned by Matt's friend, called Kalafate. It had just opened for business when Matt came to Chile in 2011, and we were glad to see that the place was still doing good business three years later. The line was out the door. 

Like a lot of restaurants in Chile, it has a pre fixe menu, which means that each person gets several courses, but with few options for each course. Usually there's not a menu to look at, the waiter just tells you the options.

For example, Matt and I were each given a class of fresh juice (orange/apple). Then we each got to choose an appetizer. That day the choices were garbanzo soup (chick pea soup with sesame seeds) and vegetable salad. I got the soup, and Matt got the salad.

The next course was the main course, and we got to choose shrimp and rice or letils and sausage. I got the lentils, but without the sausage. Dessert was the same way - creme brulee, or a small tart. 

It's a nice way of eating - you have fewer options, so you become more decisive, and you end up trying new things. I really liked the soup a lot, but I probably wouldn't have chosen it had I seen it on a larger menu.

Having several courses made for a long lunch, but that's good. I like taking a break from the day to actually stop and appreciate the food I'm eating. It was beautiful.

The second night we were here we went out with Matt's friend Kevin, who is super cool. He took us to his favorite hotdog stand. I told most of my students that hotdogs are a big deal in Chile, and they're definitely a big deal to Matt. 

This hotdog stand had so many options. Here's the menu (and yes, that's a TV playing the Simpsons in Spanish). 

Matt got a completo, which comes with relish, tomato, and mayonnaise. 

It was huge and, according to Matt, delicious. Kevin's was a little different. His was made with thinly shredded steak, and topped with barbeque sauce, cheese, and onions.

It ended up being quite a meal, even though I didn't order anything. The three of us waited, standing with other people, sharing stories and catching up. It was really nice. I remember watching panic wash over one young man's face when the yolk of a fried egg slid off of his hotdog and onto the ground, and laughing with his friends as he lamented the loss of the essential topping to his vienesa a lo pobre. 

Although we'll mostly be eating at home, there are a couple of restaurants I want to try. There's a Thai restaurant on our block. Thai is one of my favorite cuisines, so I definitely want to check that out.

I've also seen approximatly 20 different sushi restaurants. Who knew that Santiago would have so much sushi? I guess it makes sense, seeing how so much of Chile is coastal. I bet a lot of the seafood they use for the sushi is quite fresh. I did buy a rolling mat and seaweed to make my own sushi, too, though.

One thing that might surprise some people: there's no Mexican food here. I think we've only seen one Mexican restaurant so far. Richmond has a ton of Mexican culture, which is evidenced by all the different Mexican restaurants we have. But in Chile, there are very few. I have seen a couple Peruvian restaurants, which will be neat to try, too.

One day we'll go to a typical Chilean restaurant, too. Chilean food, as I've seen it so far, consists primarily of: bread (usually dense, crusty bread), fresh seafood (mussels, fish, shrimp), rice, potatoes, and salads. Beef is also very popular here, although they cook the hell out of it. I haven't eaten meat in a long time, but I still know that I like beef cooked medium-rare. The meat here is pretty well-done.

So many words! I'll try for more pictures next time. Los extraño mucho, y buen provecho.