La Comida de Chile

Chile is not famous for its cuisine but they do have a few specialties that are pretty awesome:

Empanadas: Empanadas are dough filled with almost anything that you can think of and then they are either fried or baked. The most popular are queso (cheese), pino (cheese, meat, hard boiled egg), and other combinations of cheese and meat or vegetables. You can think of them as the predecessor of hot pockets, only better. I especially love them when they are homemade!

Palta: Also known as avocado. It is on EVERYTHING here, literally. Sandwiches, salads, burgers, etc. It is also a valid snack choice eaten plain. I love avocado so this is definitely not a problem for me. Fun fact: palta is another chilenismo, a word only used in Chile, everywhere else they call avocados aguacate.

Italianos/Completos: Huge hot dogs with tons of stuff on top. I haven't had a completo yet because I really like italianos, so I always end up ordering one of those. An italiano got its name from the colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato), green (avocado), and white (mayo). Chileans also love mayo. Here's a picture of an Italiano just for reference!

Pisco sours: Technically a drink, not a food but they are served at almost every restaurant. Made with Pisco, lemon juice, and sugar and sometimes whipped egg whites on top. Very good!

Terremoto: Literally translates to earthquake. A certain type of sweet fermented white wine with a scoop of pineapple ice cream. Some places add grenadine too. It's called a terremoto because you don't realize how strong it is until after you drink it and feel wobbly, supposedly.
Lauren and I sharing a terremoto:


Asados: Barbeques. Like American BBQ's salad, potato salad, and corn are all included, just in much larger quantities. Unlike in the US, there are no hamburgers or hotdogs, its just a collection of grilled carne (steak), pollo (chicken), chorizo (sausage), and cerdo (pork). Today my Chilean family had an asado at our house. It was delicious, although I don't think I will need to eat again until sometime tomorrow!