La comida de Chile

Chilean food is, for a lack of a better word, interesting. By far, my favorite local dish is the "lomito," which is the pork version of the VERY popular beef "churrasco." Both are sandwiches that are probably best described as a cross between a taco and a hamburger and are sold from stalls on the street, small cafes, and even nice restaurants. You can get them with any combination of condiments, including green bell peppers (the "italiano") or sauerkraut (the "completo"), but most popular is GOBS of mayonnaise, tomato and avocado. Then you add your choice of ketsup, mustard, and aji (a mild chili sauce). These sandwiches are very filling, very cheap ($2-3), and pretty flavorful. However, lomitos and churrascos stand in stark contrast with the staggering LACK of flavor and diversity found in the grocery stores. Thus my utter failure in producing a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner...

It was a roasted chicken, chicken gravy, mashed potatoes, and last but not least: hot-dog stuffing. Surprisingly, everything turned out pretty good! For a lot of my guests, this was the first time they had ever eaten gravy, and boy did they love it! One guy Joan (pronounced "joe-ahn") nearly drank it straight from the sauce pan!


I think from now on, I'll stick to the churrascos, lomitos, empenadas, and chori-pan (chorizo hotdog)! OOOH! And the ice cream down here is great too! Salud!