Gastronomy of Chile

The gastronomy of Chile is the product of the mixture between indigenous tradition and the Spanish colonial contribution, combining their foods, customs and culinary habits. Over time, it has had contributions minors of European cuisines by immigrants, such as German and Italian; However, in the XX century it had an important and marked influence from French cuisine. These elements made up what is known as "Chilean Creole cuisine", which stands out for its varied flavors, ingredients and colors, a result of the country's geographical diversity, accompanied by alcoholic beverages such as Chilean pisco and wine.

The most traditional dishes of Chilean cuisine are ajiaco, anticuchos, roasts, calapurca, cancato, carbonada, cazuela, chapalele, charquicán, curanto, empanadas de pino, humitas, milcao, paila marina, pantruca, corn cake, potato cake, fried fish, pomegranate beans, pulmay and tomaticán, among many others.

According to the Fundación Imagen de Chile in 2016, there are 14 types of Chilean cuisine: from the great north; northern boy; urban streets; urban restaurants; urban home; huasa peasant coastal; partying; southern central European; Mapuche indigenous; chilote; Patagonian; overseas Chilean and Chilean haute cuisine. Local artifacts are the Antu solar cooker, the Chilean oven and the Chilean toaster.

In the cities, it is offered at snacks, in an atmosphere alluding to Chileanness. Since its establishment in 2009, and "to recognize the gastronomic history of Chile and the current diet of the Chilean people", the "Day of "Chilean Cuisine" has been celebrated in the country every April 15.

History

Along with the arrival in Chile of the Spanish conquistadors under the command of Pedro de Valdivia, the ingredients that would become the basis of future Creole food also arrived. Among the products they brought were wheat, pigs, sheep, chickens and cattle. These base ingredients were mixed and, thus, gave rise to the most typical dishes of Chile.

According to historians, the menu during the Colony was very nutritious. They called the first dish "de residence", which could be poultry, meat or fish. Then they continued with "the hearty stew", preferably made with corn and potatoes. At the beginning of the colony, chuchoca, humitas, locro and pilco began to be well known. Also in the colony, the love for seaweed was born, such as cochayuyo and luche, which were served accompanied by hard-boiled eggs. The bread was of three kinds: the rescoldo tortilla, the Spanish bread, with a lot of fat and crumbs, and the Chilean bread, flattened and "crabby." Finally, fruits, especially strawberries and lucumas, were served as dessert. Lunch and dinner ended with a herbal water, which could be helpful for emptiness and intestinal problems. In the 17th century, the nuns gave a great boost to Chilean colonial cuisine. Almost all of the pastries in Chilean cuisine come from there.

In the same century, goose and turkey arrived from Mexico; of Jamaica, written melons and watermelons. Shellfish and fish acquired names and surnames: the Papudo urchins, the Juan Fernández lobster, the Aculeo silverside and the tollo, among others. Chocolate and mate were the most popular drinks.

Chilean colonial cuisine began to acquire refinement in the middle of the XVIII century, a time of parties and soirées, and the tables They began to decorate themselves elegantly for lunch and dinner. The regional products provided the Creole cooks with appetizing curiosities: Combarbalá contributed its cakes; La Serena, the roasted turkey; Chanco, its cheeses, and Chiloé, its curanto.

The food of the people was different from those served on aristocratic tables. The first was made of jerky, flour and beans with dried pepper and salt. On festival days, the menu varied: carbonada, carne asada on a stick, casserole, chupe, empanadas, guatitas, mote, fried fish and sopaipillas.

Coffee and tea then arrived in the country, leaving the custom of drinking mate in the background. The national wines became famous and the Chilean people became fond of grape chicha.

Chilean cuisine acquired a defined physiognomy during the Old and New Homelands. From the date that marks the beginning of independence from Spain, September 18, 1810, Creole tables begin to celebrate the event with empanadas, chicha and red wine. Beef broth with chili, thickened with chuchoca, becomes a traditional delicacy of the fields of the Chilean Central Valley.

The treatment of game (rabbits and deer), with fruit sauces, receives German influence. Among the native recipes, the preparation of rabbit with peanuts is well known. Furthermore, Italy contributes its pasta to the Chilean gastronomic tradition.

The menu is abundant and varied: salted pork, mixed with potatoes, peas, onions and cabbages. The people are fond of charquicán and stew and, for dessert, melons and watermelon. In the New Homeland, winters are sweetened with picarones. At the beginning of the Portalian era, the gastronomy tested in colonial times is already assimilated by the people. Arrollado reaches the rank of typical dish: meat cooked in pieces, scrambled with eggs and wrapped in malaya or pig leather. Other favorite dishes of those times were egg encebollado, mote stew, huañaca (beef fat with toasted flour), false locro, miltrines or arejos, pantrucas, charred potatoes and pebre of raw onions and tomatoes. As a drink, ulpo gained popularity, along with gloria or cordial, hot water with burnt sugar.

During the 20th century, Chilean cuisine strongly developed the great contribution of French gastronomy received at the end of the century < span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">XIX, which manifested itself in various chupes, stews, stews and desserts, preparations compiled by several authors in the country. It is evident, above all, in the fish: the conger eel Margarita, the croaker with black butter, or the omelettes that replace the Spanish potato omelette in this Frenchization of the offer. In the 1940s, the complete dressing was created, which became the "fundamental basis of Chilean cuisine."

Also in this century, a characteristic "Chilean fast food" developed, mainly made up of different types of sandwiches with a variety of ingredients. Bread consumption in Chile annually accounts for more than USD 1.3 billion - 70% corresponds to marraqueta, 20% to hallulla and the rest to baguette and African bread. After Germany, Chile is the second bread consumer worldwide.

Culinary heritage

The Creole culinary heritage was transmitted from generation to generation through recipes kept in notebooks or cards, which remained for years as a secret of the different families, until the moment when someone compiled them in volumes and published them. In the middle of the 19th century, the old recipes of nuns and families began to be written in the printing presses, which would become based on texts that compiled national gastronomy over time.

History indicates that, in the middle of the same century XIX, when the first volumes of important culinary recipes were published, several recipe books appeared in Santiago and Valparaíso—highlightingGastronomic science. Recipes for stews and stews for desserts (1851), by Eulogio Martín, and Book of families (1876)—which were publications that contained cooking manuals, home economics, baking, confectionery and two curious health and laundry manuals.

At the end of the 19th century, Chile came to be defined as the «classical land of the arrollado, of the pequenes, of good beans with onion sprouts and chili in pods, of charquicán and chanfaina", emphasizing both the exuberance and simplicity of Chilean gastronomy.

At the beginning of the XX century, the Encyclopedia of Aunt Pepa's Home (1898), by Rafael Egaña, is considered a classic of Chilean cuisine where several recipes from the beginning of the century were compiled, mainly those dedicated to birds and game, with succulent preparations of hens, roosters, chickens, geese, turkeys, and ducks., partridges, pigeons, doves, doves and thrushes, among others.

The recipe book La Negrita Doddy (1911), which is modeled on a book by Julio Grauffé, cook at the Jockey Club of Paris, mainly compiled a variety of recipes from German and Spanish cuisine., French, English and Italian.

The brand new manual of the practical Chilean cook was a collection of stews and desserts from important European cuisines for the special use of housewives. These last three editions from the beginning of the century were successful and numerous reissues. However, the important book365 Practical Cooking Recipes had more reissues (until the 1960s). One for Every Day, (1900), compiled and signed by Mary Cinderella.

Later, Lucía Vergara Smith became known with the publication of the Manual of Chilean Vegetarian Cooking (1931), where the author selected preparations of egg and vegetable entrees, naturist stews and soups vegetables.

In the same decade of 1930, two new publications were printed that ended with the traditional booklet-type recipe book and books of better style and very good editions began to appear, in which the influence of the refinement of the gastronomy of France. The first book was published by the writer Marta Brunet with the title The little ant sister: a treatise on culinary art: recipes for stews, sweets, menus, etc.: instructions for good table layout with illustrations, through which he was concerned with giving instructions for the good arrangement of the table and contained stews and a wide variety of artisanal sweets; the second, published in 1935 and titled The Good Table , by Olga Budge, who, together with her husband Agustín Edwards, lived for a long time in Europe. Upon her return to Chile, she published in this book her experience in international gastronomy, especially French cuisine. In the 1950s, an interesting brochure appeared, which contained the recipes of an important Santiago restaurant, which gave an account of the French influence on Chilean cuisine, compiled by chef Carlos Arandade, titled Famous recipes from the Crillón Hotel 2, eccentric place where the influence of French cuisine marked its peak in Chilean cuisine in the mid-20th century XX.

In 1943 Eugenio Pereira Salas published Notes for the history of Chilean Cuisine, which dealt with the formation of national gastronomy divided into chapters: The beginnings of Hispanic-Aboriginal cuisine; Creole baroque abundance; the enlightened and gourmet XVIII century; the cuisine in the Old Homeland and the New Homeland; the end of the 19th century and the gastronomic «belle époque». It is, perhaps, the work that contains all the information on the history of Chilean Creole cuisine and, as of 2010, it has already been published four times.

Variety

A product of Chile's geographical diversity, the recipes are varied; However, five macro gastronomic zones can be differentiated:

• Northern Gastronomy of Chile
• Gastronomy of the Centre of Chile
• Gastronomy of the South of Chile
• Gastronomy of Chilean Patagonia
• Gastronomy of Easter Island

Of all of them, the cuisine has received the contribution of the different aborigines throughout the country, their different customs and products: poultry, meats, seafood and fish with different seasonings and preparations, which go hand in hand with the influence foreign that has originated a wide range of drinks and desserts. A product that Chilean cuisine has been able to make the most of and use in multiple dishes is corn, or choclo as it is known in Chile. Potatoes and beans are also raw materials from indigenous cuisine. Among dishes worth mentioning based on the previous ingredients, there are cream and corn cake, humitas and potato-based stews, carbonada, charquicán and beans with pumpkin.

The Spaniards brought meats to the continent, such as chancho (pork) and beef, from which preparations arose such as meat rolls, chancho a la chilena, chupe de guatitas, pork ribs with chili and tongue in spicy sauce, among other dishes.

The typical gastronomy of Easter Island is based mainly on seafood and fish, especially lobster. As in the south of Chile, umu, a type of curanto, is the traditional food of the island. It is served with unpeeled potatoes and poe, a sweet pudding made with flour, bananas and pumpkin.

Native crops and popular products

Murta or murtilla, potatoes and chinoa.

Throughout Chile, you can see fruits and legumes cultivated since ancient times, as well as in other sectors of South America, which stand out both in recipes and in important export businesses. Among the best known are the following:

• Aceituna: Although olives come from Europe, Azapa olives in Arica are considered a variety of Chilean origin and are recognized throughout the country.
• Calafate: Patagonia wild baya, smaller than a cranberry. In the Aysén and Magallanes regions, products made from calafate are marketed, mainly chocolates, syrups, liqueurs and jams, among others. It is possible to find it in the mountain range, from Chillán to the south.
• Chirimoya: Nativa del área subtropical de los Andes; although not native to Chile, is one of the main countries where it is consumed, and in this country studies have been carried out to know its behavior.
• Choclo: This cereal, planted by the three great civilizations of the pre-Columbian America (Aztec, Mayan and Inca), was also cultivated in the terrace systems of the Atacameños and by the trade between the peoples spread to the south to become known and cultivated by the Mapuches and Huilliches.
• Lúcuma: At first, the Chilean playpiece Pouteria splendens was used, although this was replaced by the hocuum of Peruvian origin. Its first crops spread from La Serena to Quillota, but it is currently grown from the Azapa Valley to Santiago. It is mainly applied in pastries and ice cream.
• Murta or murtilla: This fruit, collected by the Mapuche people from before the arrival of the Spaniards, has a precious value in the area of gastronomy, mainly to make jam and a liqueur called murted or muttering.
• Nalca or Pangue: Peciolos of the leaves (“tail”) are edible, fibrous and to a greater or lesser extent astringent, but have plenty of water; and they are used raw (in salads or consumed in a form similar to a fruit, usually with salt) or in compotes. Its leaves are used for the cure, a typical dish of Chiloé.
• Palta: Different types of palta were cultivated in Chile since pre-Columbian times; the black peel stick is of Chilean origin, which was cultivated in La Cruz and the Maipo Valley. Chile is the third world producer of palta after the United States and Mexico.
• Pope (subspecies tuberosum): It is a species belonging to the family of the Solanaceaefrom South America. It is a very important ingredient in the different types of typical dishes. In Chile, there are different varieties, but the most important center of origin is the Chiloé archipelago; the gastronomy of that area has it as a fundamental part of almost all its dishes.
• Quínoa (also known as quinoa, quinoa or kinwa): is a pseudocereal family Chenopodiaceae which occurs in the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in addition to the United States, Bolivia being the first global producer followed by Peru and the United States. In Chile it was cultivated by the aimaras and Atacameños, who contributed the different varieties of this product to the cuisine of the North Grande of Chile.

Endemic gastronomy

Chilean chef Rodolfo Guzmán was the precursor of the concept of endemic gastronomy, a type of cuisine that aims to prepare dishes with native products of Chile and that has begun to be developed with endemic species of Chilean flora and fauna..

Among the endemic products we can mention the rica-rica, used as an aromatic herb and condiment, and the "araucanian pepper", produced from the cinnamon fruit.

Marine products

Cochayuyo, the most consumed algae in the country, and picorocos, a crustacean of Chile.

A characteristic element of the Chilean culinary field is the variety and quality of fish, shellfish and seaweed, favored by the geographical situation in which the country is located, which on its central and northern coasts is influenced by the Humboldt Current. Among other products are albacore, tuna, cod, croaker, sole, hake, grouper, pomfret, octopus, skate and cochayuyo. Red, golden and black conger eels are consumed fried, baked, or in a stew known as caldillo de congrio, which earned an ode from the Chilean poet and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature Pablo Neruda.

Thousands of species are found throughout Chile. Only on the coast of La Serena and Coquimbo is a wide variety of fish species found; In the consumption of seafood, sea urchins and picorocos (barnacles), both are practically foreign to the cuisine of almost all other nations, products that in the future could become novel proposals in the foreign market. Other important cases include the presence of Juan Fernández lobsters (prepared under the name "lobster pot"), crab, mussel and southern krill, among others. In the south there are the giant oysters, the navajuelas and the Chiloé huepo. In short, the Chilean sea provides a wide quality and variety of marine products to Chilean gastronomy and to the foreign market, since Chile is one of the main exporting countries of seafood - it occupies second place in the world in the export of seafood flour. fish and first in exporting high-quality, contamination-free salmon (30% of the world market), surpassing Norway in 2006—; currently an important source of wealth due to exports to Japan, the United States, even Europe; Likewise, trout breeding is important.

Cuisines by region

Gastronomy of the northern area

The cuisine of the north has been formed from the contribution of the products of the indigenous cultures of the Andean highlands, the Aymaras and Atacameños, who developed intense agriculture based on the production of locoto, corn, goose, potatoes, quinoa and squash; In livestock, alpaca and llama meat was widely used. There is also the shellfish-gathering tradition of the coastal changos, which is maintained to this day with the consumption of many dishes based on shellfish and fish. The influence of the Diaguitas was also important, who already produced fermentations of carob and other seeds since pre-Columbian times. In the small north, the valleys of the Atacama Region stand out, producing one of the most famous olive oils in the country, and, together with the Coquimbo Region, they maintain the production of pisco, one of the spirits most disputed for its origin. There is a large number of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks that can be found in northern cuisine: fruit smoothies, mango sour, pajarete, serena libre and ulpo, among others.

Gastronomy of the central area

The recipes of the central zone have had a varied contribution in their formation: the indigenous contribution, with the products of the land - such as corn and various vegetables that have made up well-known recipes such as charquicán, pomegranate beans, humitas and the pastel de choclo—, and the contributions of the customs of the Spanish and the subsequent foreign influence, mainly European, since the second half of the century XIX, with the introduction of habits such as "eleven o'clock" and the consumption of tea by the English, or the introduction of grape strains by the French during the same century.

Peasant traditions, such as threshing with a loose mare, are also associated with typical dishes typical of them, such as threshing soup, a preparation made from bread, onions and garlic accompanied with a portion of meat, which was lunch for the workers who carried out the work.

In the city of Valparaíso, fried fish is typical (it can be conger eel, corvina or hake) accompanied by potatoes or salad. Regarding seafood, the extraction and consumption of land shrimp stands out in this area.

In this area of the country, the wine valleys of Maipo, Maule, Curicó, Rapel and Colchagua stand out for having the best vineyards for the preparation of Chilean wine, which has been positioned among the best in the world.

Gastronomy of the southern zone

This region has had a great influence from Mapuche cuisine, which provided products such as corn, merquén, potatoes, beans, squash, and also Mapuche chicken or kollongka —which It could be the only pre-Columbian South American chicken that produces eggs with blue and green hues.

Another important contribution is Chilote cuisine, highly influenced by Mapuche cuisine, characterized by its hundreds of varieties of potatoes (subspecies tuberosum) and the dishes made with them, such as milcao or chochoca, in addition to dishes based on seafood and fish that constitute an important part of the gastronomy of the south of the country. In Angelmó, there is the most varied market nationwide when it comes to marine products; In such a market, you can consume seafood caldillo, curanto in pot or pulmay, seafood empanadas and grilled sierra cancato. Some alcoholic beverages that can be found in this region are apple chicha, golden liquor,muday and murtado, among others.

It is important to highlight the influence of German colonization, which took place in some areas of southern Chile during the 19th century< /span>, and its cuisine that has been mixed with typical materials from the area, creating, what many gourmets have called, "wonderful combination" between German and Mapuche food. What has remained the most from German cuisine is its pastries, and a clear example of this is the kuchens and strudels.

In Chilean Patagonia, lamb meat, seafood and various kinds of wild fruits are used.

Pastry

Chilean pastries have a long tradition and varied products that differ more according to the season than the geographical location, although there are small exceptions to the rule. A dessert representative of summer, to name just one, is mote con huesillo, which is made with dried peaches, a dessert representative of winter, to name one, is usually the sopaipillas, which are moistened in a sweet chancaca broth.

The history of Chilean pastry gives its first light during the XVII century, the nuns gave a great boost to the Chilean colonial pastries, and from there comes the expression, valid until today, "made with a nun's hand", to say that a dessert is exquisite. This century was a rich time in this previously unknown culinary facet. The nuns imitated, with almonds and pastes, from the most delicate sweets to natural fruits, table services, glasses and even napkins. These imitations were called "contrafactos" of the nuns, becoming so perfect that they often led to deception.

Other desserts are the alfajor, the quince paste, the peaches of the virgin, the manjar, the substances, among many others, and they were the typical gifts of colonial Christmas.

Also the Spanish influence of Judeo-Moorish pastries marked its gastronomic heritage with recipes such as Chilean alfajores, powdered and chilenitos, papaya or pineapple lodges, compotes and fruits in syrup made with native fruits, egg mole, the delicacy, without forgetting the pan-fried fruits such as fritters, sopaipillas or picarones.

The pastry itself is usually consumed during the so-called "eleven", the last snack of the day, which is closer to English tea time than to the custom of dinner. There are real chains of tea rooms and they display all kinds of cakes and desserts, such as the black forest, the curicana cakes, the thousand-leaf cake, and puff pastries, the fruit tarts, the kuchen apple, queen's arm, apple strudel and others. In addition, it is customary to make, along with different salty sausages, sweet sauces and jams to accompany the bread, as well as the aforementioned delicacy, the quince paste and jams itself, from all types of seasonal fruits, such as orange, blackberry, peach., strawberry, raspberry, murtilla jam, calafate jam and others.

Other typical sweets from Chile are the famous La Ligua sweets, considered Chile's gastronomic heritage, which have a great variety from powdered sweets, chilenitos, cachitos, sweet empanadas or pear empanadas, cocadas, almejitas and alfajores. These sweets are usually sold on trips and on roads, as it is customary to eat them when leaving the cities, on the go or at toll plazas.

Chile is more a country of "sweets" and cakes than desserts. Among the most consumed are, for example, the berlin, the arm of the queen, the chumbeques, the churros, the cuchuflíes, the colegiales, the sweet empanadas, the sweet camote, the kuchen, the cotton of sugar and sugar palms. The most consumed desserts are rice pudding with and without raisins, but always with cinnamon or orange zest, flan, jelly, roasted milk, semolina with milk, roasted apples, wine nougat, cheerful custard apple and pears with bishop sauce, which is a wine-based sauce. A typical product of the Christmas season is Easter bread, which is usually eaten together with a glass of colemono, also called "monkey tail." There is a wide variety of very typical Chilean sweets that represent different areas and customs of the country.

Chilean fast food

During the 20th century, a characteristic “Chilean fast food” was developed, a type of food that is usually sold in small food establishments called soda fountains or street vending establishments.

Among the oldest sandwiches are the two most famous, known by the names of two Chilean politicians, a former minister and a former president: the Barros Jarpa, which consists of a melted cheese and ham sandwich; and the Barros Luco, which has melted cheese and grilled meat. Other sandwiches are:

• Allied (mon and cold cheese)
• American (baby meat, fried egg, ham and hot cheese)
• As (the base is bread of hot dog and beef fried, with mayonnaise; can carry chucrut, palta, tomato, etc.),
• Ave. May (meaning owl, mixed with mayonnaise, and/or palette, tomato),
• Rocky bird (meaning owl, mixed with paprika, and/or palette, tomato),
• Chacarero (slim beef slices, cold cooked green porotos, tomato slices and chopped green peppers),
• Chemilico (beef, onion and egg, fried),
• Italian Churrasco (powder, mayonnaise, palta and tomato),
• Fricandela (a 250 g meatball, chucrut and mayonnaise)
• The hot dog or complete has the following variations:
  • Attractive (come, chucrut, mayonnaise, palta, chopped tomato, mustard and hot pepper sauce),
  • Brazil (cheese melting and palette),
  • Chaparrita (grease and hot cheese, baked dough wraps),
  • Complete (compare, chucrut, mayonnaise, palta, chopped tomato and mustard),
  • Dynamic (grease, mayonnaise, tomato, mustard and green sauce),
  • Special (compare and mayonnaise)
  • Italian (single, mayonnaise, tomatoes, etc.)
  • Simple (mayoness and tomatoes),
• Lomito (thin slices of pork loin, tomato slices, chucrut, mayonnaise and palette),
• Potato sandwich,
• York (fried egg and ham).

Another food dish of this type is grilled chicken, known in Chile since ancient times as "Spiedo chicken", which is very popular for its quick way of acquiring it. Others, such as calzones rotos, cheese empanadas, candied apples, bread with chicharrones, picarones and sopaipillas, and the potito sandwich, colloquially "sánguche", which is traditionally sold at the end of football matches. soccer. It is customary to sell all of them on the streets.

This type of food, especially what is sold on the street, is frequently consumed by a large part of the people, due to its low prices and the lack of time to cook at home; However, as they are foods high in fat and carbohydrates, they have caused an increase in obesity in Chilean society, a health problem that is affecting more people every day.

Drinks

Cabernet Sauvignon bottles and gold liqueur.

In Chile, the traditional drinks are chicha, Chilean pisco and wine. The latter is the main alcoholic beverage in the country, mainly in its Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère and Merlot strains among red wines, and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc among whites; Chilean wine is internationally known for its aroma, quality and body, which has led him to obtain several world awards.

Among the national alcoholic beverages, there are:

• The monkey tail, especially at Christmas time,
• The fuck,
• The melon with wine, which has its national day on January 15th,
• The straw,
• The piscola, also called "national combinado", which has its day of commemoration on 8 February,
• The pisco sour,
• The ponche of culén,
• The fruit punch, mix of wine and chopped fruit from the season (chirimoyas, peaches or strawberries); in the case of the mixtures of strawberries with wine, they are called Borgoña if it is with red wine and clery if it is with white wine.
• The free serena,
• The earthquake,
• The tropical, prepared with white wine and a gaseous drink with pineapple taste,
• The Chilean pod.

In the northern area, there is a variety of drinks (such as mango and papaya sour appetizers) and smoothies (guava, mango and passion fruit, among others) made of tropical fruits. Meanwhile, in the southern area there is gold liquor, which is produced in Chiloé; the mistela, themuday, of Mapuche origin; the murtado and the rompón, also from Chiloé.

There are also sweet non-alcoholic drinks for popular consumption, such as the typical mote con huesillo, pineapple smoothie, sweet potatoes in syrup, fruit salad, banana with milk and fruit punch.

Although it is not native, beer is also widely consumed in Chile, of which there are many varieties. Dark beer (type Schwarzbier, Porter or Stout) is known as “malt” in the country. The non-alcoholic counterpart drink, for its part, is called "Caribbean malt" to distinguish it.

Mate and tea

Mate is consumed in rural areas South and Southern Chile, while black tea is the preferred drink of Chilean society.

Until the 19th century, mate was generally consumed in Chile and in a peculiar way since, Unlike what happened in the River Plate countries, in Chile the infusion was almost always prepared with the "stick" and not with the yerba mate leaf.

However, from the 19th century the consumption of tea increased, a custom that shows the British influence that Chile received, especially in that century; since then, tea has replaced mate, which was previously the hot drink most consumed by Chileans, and its consumption has been restricted to rural areas, most commonly in the southern and southern regions of Chile.. However, its consumption has become more popular in recent times.

With the spread of tea as the preferred drink of Chilean society, the tradition of "las once" also came, something similar to the English afternoon tea or high tea, which was established as the most important family gathering of the day and replaced the long afternoons of mate, or "comadreos", where families and friends gathered to talk while drinking mate; This tradition of gossiping is still valid in the south of Chile, apart from eleven.

Distinctions

The delicious pot. Cocinas mestizas de Chile, written by anthropologist Sonia Montecino, was awarded as the best in the culinary history of Latin America in 2005 by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. This recognition was added to the one that had been received in Chile in 2004 by the Círculo de Cronistas Gastronomicos de Chile, and in which specialized Chilean journalists, such as César Fredes, Daniel Greve and Augusto Merino, participated. On the other hand, Gastronomía Patagonia was awarded as the best gastronomic example in the world at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. The ceremony, held on March 10, 2012 at the Théâtre des Folies Bergère in Paris, awarded this recognition for the first time in its history to a Chilean publication. Published by the Gourmet Patagonia publishing house, Patagonia Gastronomy rescues the best of southern Chilean cuisine, specifically focused on the regions of Los Ríos and Los Lagos and the island of Chiloé. With this, it managed to stand out among more than 30,000 books from 163 countries, positioning Chile as the second Latin American country to obtain this recognition.

In June 2012, National Geographic magazine highlighted the Central Market of Santiago as the fifth best in the world, a place recognized for its gastronomy that preserves the Chilean culinary heritage. Likewise, in In the 2017 The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, published by Restaurant magazine, four Chilean restaurants were among the fifty best in Latin America: Restaurante 040 (38.º), Ambrosía (33rd), 99 (14th) and Boragó (5th); the latter, in addition, was chosen 42nd among the fifty best in the world. Its chef, Rodolfo Guzmán, was awarded the Chef's Choice Award in 2015.

Additional bibliography

• Egaña, Rafael (1898). Home Encyclopedia of Aunt Pepa. |fechaacceso= requires |url= (help)