I must record a memorable first from today: fruit at my local supermarket has broken the CLP 4.000/kg threshold. What is this exotic treasure, so delectable, so irresistible, that Chileans would be willing to pay US$4.50/lb for it? Nectarines. Imported from the U.S. of A.

Importing fruit from abroad is standard practice in the north, to protect gringos from long bleak winters filled with apples and oranges. It was this very demand that made Chile, once a non-consumer of cranberries and blueberries, the southern hemisphere’s largest exporter of these fruits (both of which, unfortunately, are called arándanos here, producing much confusion and a sorry Chilean cosmopolitan).

But it’s only been a few years, it seems, since Chile’s staple export fruits, notably grapes and avocados, have been reappearing during the off-season tagged with a different red, white and blue sticker. I steer clear of these, stoically filling my cart with apples and pears until the local nectarines finally reappear with the warm weather. (My carbon guilt is somewhat selective, however– I never have trouble buying bananas.)

I take some comfort in the fact that this country’s economy is strong enough to warrant the increasing procurement of such luxuries. And to be honest, the nectarines smelled delicious. But buying local isn’t yet a practice that has to be revived and relearned here in Chile the way it is in many of the places we come from. Let’s help make sure it doesn’t get lost.

After wine, seafood is perhaps Chile’s most famous export. In the U.S., you can go into a restaurant and order “Chilean Sea Bass,” but when you get to Chile and you want the same thing, what should you ask for? And what are all of those other kinds of fish on the menu? Here’s a quick guide to Chilean seafood.

So now you know what animal to order.  Now on to how you would like it prepared:

Common preparations for seafood in Chile

In a bowl…

• caldillo (e.g. de congrio) stew or chowder, may be water- or cream-based
• chupe (e.g. de camarón) milk and bread (marraqueta) are often mixed into the broth of this seafood chowder
• paila (e.g. marina) seafood stew served named for the traditional clay bowl it’s served in
• pastel (e.g. de jaiba) chunks of meat in a cream sauce topped with cheese and baked
  

On a plate…

• a la plancha grilled
• al horno baked
• frito fried

Special sauces…

• a la mantequilla negra in a butter- and vinegar-based sauce prepared with ground pepper or peppercorns, which may or may not be darker in color than plain butter
• a la parmesana covered with parmesan cheese and broiled
• al pil-pil sautéed in butter, garlic and hot pepper
• en escabeche/escabechado marinated and baked in an acidic marinade with onions and herbs
• en salsa margarita in a white sauce with shellfish

Famous dishes…

• ceviche/cebiche raw fish “cooked” in lemon juice and mixed with onions, cilantro, red pepper (sweet pepper, similar only in appearance to the fiery rocoto used in Peruvian cebiche), and served with corn and boiled sweet potato
• curanto just about every variety of animal protein– including fish and shellfish– is placed with potatoes, cabbage and white wine in a large pot or a hole in the ground and cooked for several hours

Find the fish

Celery figure with mayonnaise hair

In Chile, you can buy mayonnaise in jars and envelopes, local and imported, regular and diet. You can buy it flavored with (or perhaps like) olive oil, cheese, garlic, and strangely, milk.

Chilean mayonnaise has a different look and feel than American mayonnaise.  It’s decidedly yellow, and less viscous but somehow thicker.  I find it has a stronger flavor and doesn’t go down quite as easily as the stuff from home.  Fortunately the stuff from home has arrived: it’s sold in jars, rather than envelopes, and is billed as “premium”.  If you want the mayo you’re used to, stick to the brands you know.  On the other hand, an especially good or especially rustic restaurant will make its own mayo, which beats anything you can get in the store.

Be on the lookout for unexpected quantities of mayonnaise in these places and situations:

• Covering just about anything called ensalada at a barbecue.  With papas mayo (“mayonnaise potatoes”) you’re warned, but the corn and the carrots are also fair game
• As a major, sometimes even the only, topping on white-bread canapés
• Decorating your appetizer at a Chilean tourist restaurant

No Reservations, our favorite travel show, finally did a Chile episode.  Here it is, courtesy of someone on YouTube.  A must-see for visitors and Chile Expats alike!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86C5139330EB18E

This heavenly stuff gets translated into English in Isabel Allende novels as “blancmange” and into American ice cream flavors as “dulce de leche” (read with hard d and gutteral l), which is its name in most of the rest of the Spanish-speaking world.   Manjar literally means “delicacy” and is what you get when you cook sugared milk for a long time.  It turns into a smooth brown paste that vaguely resembles peanut butter in color and consistency (which leads to a puzzling confusion between the two on the part of some Chileans, despite the completely different flavors and textures).

Manjar is a staple on the breakfast and once table, to be spread on bread like jam.  It’s also a common filling in many pastries and cakes.  Dunkin’ Donuts in Chile sells a “Boston Manjar” donut, which is a Boston Kreme donut with a manjar filling in place of the “kreme”.

If you like sweets, you will probably love manjar.  Fortunately, in Chile you can get it at any store that sells food, even the tiniest mom-and-pop negocio on a remote patagonian isle.  However, should you find yourself traveling abroad and in need of a fix, here are two simple recipes: the traditional slow-cooked milk and sugar, and the more modern boiled-can-of-condensed-milk.  For the moment, both are untested by expat.cl, so use at your own risk.

http://www.nuevoanden.com/recetas/recmanjar.html

Tofu isn’t a popular protein in Chile.  Nevertheless, it’s not hard to find.  The Asian markets in Recoleta offer the best prices and variety.

Spotted here:

• Jumbo sometimes carries tofu, which you can also buy in largish quantities from the producer, Alimentos Shen
• AssiMarket and Chinahouse Market in Patronato (Recoleta)
• TierraViva in Ñuñoa and ApioPalta (delivery) sell organic tofu

Advertised but unconfirmed here:

• Alimentos Saludables offers delivery to La Florida, Ñuñoa, Providencia and Santiago Centro

This one’s so easy, I’m only posting about it because it might not occur to everyone.  Afe brand red apple juice is all-natural and unfiltered.  It looks like apple cider.  And by gosh, if you heat it up a bit, it tastes like apple cider.  Maybe I’ve been away from the New England winter for too long, but I urge you to try this stuff if you miss that fall-colors flavor.  It’ll only cost you a few bucks, and what’s the worst that can happen?  Great juice!

Looking for over-18 cider?  Apparently Strongbow is sold here, though I haven’t seen it yet.

This recipe is the one my mom always used: the one on the back of the can of Libby’s pumpkin puree.  There are two slight modifications: one, you substitute the canned pumpkin for cooked yellow squash (the kind you buy in 1/2-1 kilo pieces at the supermarket… sorry Libby!) and two, you add a bit of nutmeg.

I recommend buying at least a 700-gram trozo to make sure you’ll have enough for 1 3/4 c.  To cook it, just cut it in to biggish (1 1/2-inch) chunks and boil until the chunks slide off of a fork fairly easily.  Drain, let cool a bit, peel the green skin off with a knife, and mash with the fork.

Pastel de zapallo amarillo

Equipos especiales

• Molde redondo de 23 cm

Ingredientes

Masa

• 1 1/4 c harina sin polvos
• 1/2 tsp sal
• 1/4 c leche
• 1/4 c aceite vegetal

Relleno

• 3/4 c azúcar
• 1/2 tsp sal
• 1 tsp canela
• 1/2 tsp gengibre
• 1/4 tsp clavo de olor
• 1/4 tsp nuez moscada
• 2 huevos
• 1 3/4 c puré de zapallo amarillo
• 1 tarro leche evaporada

Instrucciones

1. Precalentar el horno a fuego alto
2. Preparar la masa
   1. En un bol cernir la harina y agregar la sal.
   2. Juntar la leche y el aceite en un recipiente sin mezclar, luego agregar a la mezcla seca de una vez.
   3. Mezclar hasta lograr una consistencia uniforme.  Formar una bola aplastada.  Envolver en papel de plástico y refrigerar 15 minutos.
3. Preparar el relleno
   1. En un bol chico, mezclar el azúcar, la sal, y las especias.
      
   2. En un bol grande, batir los huevos.  Incorporar el zapallo y luego la mezcla seca.  Agregar la leche evaporada y mezclar.
4. Preparar el pastel
   1. Estirar la masa (con uslero si la consistencia de la masa lo permite, si no, con las manos) y colocarla en el molde.
   2. Verter el relleno en el molde y colocarlo, cuidadosamente, en el horno.
   3. Luego de 15 minutos, bajar la temperatura y hornear unos 30 minutos más, hasta que un palito insertado en el centro del pastel salga limpio.  Dejar enfriar.  Se puede servir con helado de vainilla o crema chantilly.
      

[I had decided against writing this article, since the hand blender is a most international kitchen appliance.  But then several specific gringo-in-Chile uses for it popped up on my radar, thereby justifying it, so here it is.]

The immersion blender, hand blender, or minipimer as it’s called here, has been around for decades but only become popular— and begun replacing conventional blenders in some households— in recent years.

In addition to its well-known uses such as blending cream soups in the pot, making baby food and smoothies and chopping onions, you can use it to grind up the occasional unripe center around the avocado pit to avoid having to toss it, as well as make:

• instant pebre
• the corn mixture for pastel de choclo
  
• homemade peanut butter that’s easier on your wallet/arteries
• Hollandaise sauce (I’m still working on the English muffins, however*)
• whipped cream

The list goes on; suffice it to say that when I got separated, the minipimer was the only kitchen appliance I claimed.  You can buy them at large supermarkets and home improvement stores.

“Minipimer,” by the way, is so named for the Spanish company that invented it.  Read more about the origins of this remarkable machine here.

*not to mention the Canadian bacon.

With Patak’s curry pastes pretty easy to find in Santiago, we a lot of curry at my house.  I grew up eating it with chutney, and so cannot do without.  Unfortunately, decent chutney is not easy to find in Santiago, so I often find myself having to make some of the following, let’s say, camping-style chutney.  Not for serving at dinner parties, but works in a pinch.

Chutney de emergencia

Ingredientes

• 750g mermelada de damasco o durazno (3 sobres)
• 1/2 c vinagre de manzana
• 1/2 tsp canela
• 1/4 tsp cardamomo
• 1/4 tsp clavo de olor
• 1/4 tsp gengibre
• 1/4 tsp nuez moscada

Instrucciones

• En una olla mediana calentar la mermelada, las especias y la mitad del vinagre (1/4 c).  Hervir a fuego lento, revolviendo constantemente, por 10 minutos.
• Apagar el fuego y agregar la otra mitad del vinagre.  Dejar enfriar, luego guardar en el refrigerador.