It took several days, but we located Chilean food.
As I said in my first recap post, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Chilean food in Chile.
Determined food-lovers, my travel mates and I did mange to find some more “authentic” eats after making our way to the Chilean coastal towns of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.
For What I Ate Wednesday this week, I am jumping ahead in our travel story to share some tasty Chilean treats with you. The highlight was an amazing cooking class with the fabulous Boris. This may not be true snacking, but I eat more snacks than meals when traveling so I can try EVERYTHING.
Check out my Chilean eats below; then click here to hop on to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to see what the rest of the blog world else ate Wednesday!
Breakfast:
We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in a neighborhood that was right in between Valpo and Vina. It was built in 1934, and has since been restored to a fabulous accommodation. Doesn’t this looks like a Crate & Barrel magazine?
Casa Olga provided us breakfast each morning. We were served strawberry yogurt, pears, passion fruit, bananas, kiwi, cereal, toast, jam, ham and cheese (I passed on this – too much for breakfast!), coffee, and – best of all – freshly squeezed orange juice.
Here is the view we enjoyed every morning:
Their dog, Shay, wanted a seat at the table too!
Funny side note: when I asked for water at breakfast, they asked if I drank too much… they are not accustomed to drinking water in Chile!
Lunch:
This is the experience I have been most excited to share with you guys!
Katherine had to leave early, so Julia and I kept ourselves entertained by taking a Chilean cooking class. The company, Chilean Cuisine, offers hands-on cooking classes in Valparaiso. Our charismatic Chilean instructor, Boris, took us to the kitchen to choose the menu before escorting us to the local market to purchase the ingredients.
Much to my surprise, Boris had found my blog via my email signature and read up on it in advance! He even read the “About Me” section and learned that I do NOT like white potatoes.
“Today we are NOT going to eat potatoes” was written on the board. How cool is that?
Boris lead us through a cookbook to help us choose the menu. We decided on making cheese empanadas, Chilean pebre (salsa), hake fish terrine with avocado carpaccio, pumpkin and cranberry bean stew… and green chili and basil pisco sours. 🙂
First up, the market. In the rain. I don’t take public transportation often (Atlanta isn’t conducive to that)… and I especially don’t take it in the rain. However, Boris kept us so entertained and energized that I hardly minded! He also hung our wet jackets and shoes by the fire place to dry while we cooked – thank you, Boris!
Left to right, clockwise: Boris with a fish head, the market, Calabaza pumpkin, Calabaza trash (it was everywhere!), fruit stand, a massive bucket of CHIA, eggs for sale, drying my jacket, and thawing our feet
Back at the kitchen, we began to prepare the meal feast.
A few fun highlights:
- See my socks in the first pic? Those were borrowed from the owner, Martin, because our shoes were soaked and it was too cold to cook barefoot. Thank you again, Martin!
- I love empanadas. I cannot wait to try some fun combos here at home, and to try them baked. Boris wasn’t amused when I started adding ingredients to the cheese… but the chilis and some cumin were really good additions!
- We used a lot of merkén. Merkén is a unique spice blend native to Chile consisting of dried and smoked red chilies (ají cacho de cabra or goat’s horn), toasted coriander seeds, cumin and salt. I loved it and brought home a couple of bags!
- The fish terrine was cooked like a poor man’s sous vide. We wrapped the fish mixture (fish, onions, bread crumbs, egg, spices) in plastic wrap and placed it in simmering water for ~10 minutes. Very cool method – I can’t wait to try it with other items.
- I was in charge of seasoning the stew. You all know how I love heat… I added so much merkén that is made Boris tear up… I thought it was perfecto. 🙂
- Boris surprised me with beets – he saw me admiring them at the market and snuck them into our bag. They were wonderful simply boiled with olive oil and salt.
We took a ton of this food to-go to share with our Navy officer-friends. We were told it was a nice break from ship food. 🙂
Clockwise, Left to Right: Boris (a classically trained dancer) teaching us a dance while shaking chili-basil piscos, raising a glass to surviving the dance, Julia rolling out empanada dough, empanada pre-fry, frying empanadas, the final product (plus some sopapillas), eating our delicious empanada (topped with salsa), fish terrine (pre-slicing), terrines and avocado salad, salsa and beets, pumpkin bean stew (one of the most delicious things I ate on this trip), taking a bite, mas vino, Boris with dessert, dessert – lucuma ice cream with meringue.
Dinner:
I lied. The Chilean food ends here. For dinner we met up with the Navy boys for a final farewell. Dinner was at an Italian Place called Pasta e Vino. This was the #1 spot recommended to us – by travelers and Chileans alike!
It was quite good! Those Chileans know their Italian food.
Clockwise, Left to Right: Restaurant window, beautiful candle in the window, the dining room, menu, wine of the evening – a big 2007 Chilean red blend, amuse – pumpkin soup, bruschetta topped with prosciutto, bell pepper filled with goat cheese and prawn and wrapped in phyllo, my entrée: the eggplant gnocchi in goat cheese sauce with toasted almonds, Captain’s entrée: pumpkin ravioli with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese (my favorite of the night), Julia’s entrée: spinach fettuccine with ham and walnut (spelled “wall nut” on the English menu) in a cheese sauce, XO’s entrée: fettuccine with ham in a white wine-lemon sauce with parmesan crisps, apple crumble with chocolate ice cream and caramel, panna cotta topped with a berry compote, sambuca en fuego x2.
Snacks:
Like I said, we basically snacked our way through the entire trip. My favorites?
Banana Split Gelato
Never enough empanadas!
***
Are you beginning to understand why I had to do a juice cleanse when we returned? 🙂 One more recap to go – the tour of the US Navy ship!!!
Have you ever taken a cooking class in another country?
Do you prefer to stay at hotels or bed & breakfasts when you travel?
I don’t know what to say other than that I am BEYOND jealous! This looks like an amazing experience!
It really was – totally different from any other vaca I’ve taken!
Those empanadas look YUM- on first glance, they look kinda like calzones! I’ve never actually stayed in a bed & breakfast although the spread sounds pretty impressive! I’m a sucker for hotel breakfasts- how anyone can sleep through it is beyond me…especially when it’s complimentary haha!
They kind of are like mini calzones! The dough is lighter though.
Your cooking class sounds wonderful! I love how he read up about you through your blog.. yay for no white potatoes! I usually don’t like white potatoes either but tried some in Colombia and they were fantastic. Can’t say I’ve seen them here, though, so no worries about me going all white potato on you. 😉
I felt really special when he did that. Such a sweet guy, that Boris. 🙂
Great looking eats! The cooking class sounds fab, I would love to do something like that.
Fun class! Merken sounds like something I’d like… then again, so does banana split gelato!
Just don’t combine the two! 😉
The cooking class sounds like an absolutely great experience Laura! I have never tried making empanadas myself, but I am excited to see you recreate them once again! I have only taken once cooking class and it was called “chocolate 101” through my college… it was a good time, but now it’s time for another class 🙂
Chocolate 101 sounds like my kind of class!
Banana split gelato? Yes please!! 😀
Looks like such fun, Laura and the food looks fantastic!
That empanada looks DIVINE!
What does lucuma taste like???
Love that note on the board…but does “white potato” include even Yukon golds and baby red?
I love pisco sours. There was a restaurant in Austin that served them. This guy who wanted to date me when to Chile and brought me back a huge thing of pisco which I’ve never opened and use. Come visit and we can have some fun…[Is Chile where they use lime juice? Or do they use lemon? I can’t remember which country does which. ;)]
It’s like a sweet caramel flavor. It was really good, especially with the meringue. Also, the brand of ice cream was San Francisco. The raw fruit is similar to a sweet potato in texture!
They use lime in piscos. I can help you use that pisco! I’m professionally trained now. 🙂
I love trying new foods when traveling. Sounds delicious and that cooking class is a crazy cool way to try out more authentic cuisine. Love that you even went to the market for fresh ingredients for it too. Fun!
It was SO much fun. Makes me appreciate the relative cleanliness of the Dekalb Farmers Market though!
Your WIAW is such a fun variety! I’ve never taken a cooking class in another country but would love to! When it’s just my husband and I we always stay at a B&B. If we’re traveling with kids it’s always a hotel.
[Fitness, Health and Happiness]
Kids are a game-changer with hotels, I bet. Especially if it’s a shared bathroom!
That looks like so much fun and that’s awesome that he read your blog beforehand and knew about the potatoes! I would love to take a cooking class overseas (or here too, really).
So freaking cool! I want to try all of that, I have really never had Chilean food.
this post solidifies my need to travel more! bring on the crazy spices and gelato!
Let me know when – Blend trip to Europe?! 🙂
BANANA SPLIT GELATO!? Oh my. My heart has been stolen!
Boris seems amazing! That is just amazing he read about you!
Isn’t he so sweet looking?! I was so flattered he read the blog. Wish he’d come to the US!
That looks like sooo much fun! What a gracious host you had, and truly killer food.
No doubt! You would have LOVED it!
P.S. I ate sushi. In Chile.
That bed and breakfast us so adorable! This post just made me so hungry!:)
What an incredible experience! You find the coolest places & things to do.
This trip was sheer luck! I’ve never been so unplanned in my life… but loved it!
I think this glutton would have put on 10 lb from eating the empanadas alone!
I have a schnauzer too except mine is salt & pepper 🙂
I would die to try those empanadas! They look incredible. Cooking bucket list: make my own empanadas. Basically everything looks delicious! That pup is so cute and funny! I definitely prefer bed & breakfasts to hotels. You get so much more local interaction- it is amazing!
Ohhh… I feel a blogger event coming on…
I love Boris! What a great guy- reading up on your blog, surprising you with beets! I’d love to do a cooking class like that some day. Looks like a beautiful place with fantastic food! I’m excited for your version of empanadas. 🙂
Thank you! We really lucked out with Boris. 🙂
Banana Split Gelato???!!! O.M.G
I know nothing about traveling. Haven’t travelled in a long time, and just live vicariously through others.
Thanks for the trip. 😉
Right?! I haven’t seen THAT flavor in the US.
Thank you so much for reading! 🙂
SO awesome! I would love the spices there.
I have always wanted to try making my own empanadas because they sound & look so delicious. I love that you can customize them to what you are craving!
Same here. I love any opportunity to customize!
Chilean food makes me very very hungry 😉
Your experiences with it sound awesome!!!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
You would have been in heaven – the Chileans like their sweets and I had dessert every night. 🙂
Once again, I’m in awe of your photos! So exciting that you got to go to cooking school on your trip–I didn’t make it to cooking school in Italy, but I did get to visit a Parmesan maker. It sounds like you had a great time!
Not taking a cooking class in Italy is one of my biggest mistakes. Next time!!
A Parmesan maker would have beeb awesome too! Italy is my dream-land. 🙂
First of all, that’s the coolest looking Bed & Breakfast I’ve ever seen. Secondly, I think I may be in love with Shay.
It was amazing! They were so hospitable.
Wow, what an amazing experience… totally jealous here. So much yummy food.
Aaahhh it looks like you’re having a blast!!! Omgshhh I love empanadas. SO MUCH! xD
This post was such a beautiful escape from the anxiety of my weeks right now. Thank you.
Thank you so much Hannah! I hope things calm for you soon.
How awesome!! I love that you guys took a cooking class, that sounds like so much fun. And I love that your teacher was so thoughtful. I may have to steal his name from you if we visit there in the future. 🙂
Definitely! The class was customized so you could easily get a vegan lesson.
I have never taken a cooking class, let alone abroad, however one day I will check that off of my bucket list. Looks like you both had a wonderful time and found a terrific chef to learn from.
It was quite nice of you to share your food with your Naval friends (I am sure they enjoyed having something different), and I cannot wait to see the tour of the ship.
Keep the recaps coming…it is like a mini vacay for me.
this was my first one abroad. it was such a great experience – i will be sue to do one on all of my future travels!
I love that there was a field trip to the market to pick out what you were going to eat. Everything looks so delicious, especially the terrine. What kind of cheese did you put in the empanadas?
It was really cool! The cheese was queso fundido – a basic white melting cheese.