The variety in Chilean cuisine is a result of the contribution of six gastronomies splendidly well combined: the native Indian, the Spanish (that includes the Arab and the Jewish), the French, the German, the English and the Italian. This kaleidoscope of cultures is nurtured by an abundant repertory of native products from land and sea, which dazzled the Spanish palate. During the centuries when Chile was still a colony, the Spanish and Creole women, cooking with the Indian, produced local versions of their homeland recipes. Adopting and adapting the unknown, the recently arrived unearthed the virtues of the potato, corn, pumpkin, chillies and beans.
Dishes with less meat and more vegetables are typical of Creole and rural Chilean cuisine - examples include humitas or boiled corn paste wrapped in corn husks, pastel de choclo or corn baked dish ( like a "pot pie" with layers of corn (mashed or grated), meat, spices and raisins), locro or meat dish with potatoes and vegetables, charquican or dish with vegetables and dried beef.
Anything and everything grows in Chile. Though seeking out local dishes and specialties is always part of the adventure, there are a few dishes that you'll come across nearly everywhere.
Empanadas are snack-sized turnovers filled with meat, cheese, or shellfish, and are a staple of daily life, not to be missed.
Asados (barbeques) and parilladas (mixed grill) are extremely popular and widely available.
Chile's seafood is unequalled in variety and quality. Mussels, clams, and urchins, oysters and scallops, salmon, the list of fish and shellfish goes on and on, and a morning visit to fish markets anywhere in the country is an overwhelming sensory experience. Had any Patagonian toothfish lately? Chances are most people would say no. But call it by its common market name, Chilean sea bass, and the answer might be different. Chilean sea bass (Dissostichus eleginoides), a large, vaguely cod-shaped fish found in cold, deep waters of the southern hemisphere, has been one of the most phenomenally successful introductions of a fish into the North American market in our time. Try a Paila marina, a delectable shellfish stew available throughout the country.
