Can you believe it is December already? How did that happen? I realize I have seemingly been in hiding (at least on the blog) for the past couple months. Truthfully, we have been continent hopping around South America, the US, Europe, and N. Africa. It has...
Until this year, I had never been to Mistura, a culinary mega-event, and festival, held in Lima, Peru to celebrate Peruvian cuisine. It had been on my bucket list for years but the dates never coincided. Luckily, this year an invitation from Chowzter materialized for...
Not too long ago, I found a map in our library entitled, “La carte gastronomique de la France” by Andre Bourguignon. It was forgotten among old Martha Stewart Living magazines. I have no idea how I got a hold of this map, but a probable lead is from my mother...
We have been talking about Chile’s amazing wine diversity for a while now so I thought it was high time to do a short but sweet blog post outlining the major valleys in the Central Valley of Chile. The wine-growing region in Chile extends over 1,000 kilometers...
Mendoza, fittingly known as the Tierra del Sol, is a sun-drenched land that, in actuality, is an irrigated scrubland in the arid rain shadow of the towering Andes. Most of Mendoza remains a desert although parts of it were converted into a series of oases over...
(In case you missed it, check out the prequel to this post in the Peruvian Altiplano) The sun shines off the water like a reflecting pad, its glare penetrating my eyelids. “What time is it, anyways?” I glance over at my iPhone and the time says...
Salt. One of the essential minerals for life is composed primarily of sodium and chloride ions along with other trace elements. So simple. So basic. Salt can coax out and exalt flavor like no other condiment. Without salt, food is doomed to taste bland. Besides...
One of the questions and travel concerns we consistently field from our guests is how to prepare for, and potentially cope with, altitude sickness when traveling in the Andes. While Cusco and the Inca’s Sacred Valley immediately come to mind, keep in mind that...
Not long ago, I had a hankering for seafood, so I woke up bright and early to beat the crowds to arrive at the Mercado Central. I was on the prowl for machas, razor clams, which are indigenous to Chilean shores and one of the most popular shellfish. When I...
We recently sat down with the talented chef of The Singular Patagonia, Laurent Pasqualetto, the creative food/beverage engine of this spectacular hotel in Chile’s far flung Patagonia. One of the most noticeable differences at The Singular is the simply divine,...
Every morning for the past month, I have been waking up early to meditate. It’s become a sacred space to quiet my mind, focus on all the positive things I want to do/be/have/achieve in the day. By the time the dawn is starting to peak over the Andes I...
Just saying the word Patagonia conjures up visions of jagged mountains, glaciers, and cold, often inclement, weather. The extreme weather in the remote lands of Patagonia in Southern Chile can make packing for a trip quite complex. Patagonia is notorious for...
We are officially in soup season. While the afternoons here in Santiago still reach the mid-60s, the mornings and nights are frigid and have taken a dip into the 30s-40s. I have put to good use my favorite new hat, a chullo, made from alpaca from Taquile...
Peru is a captivating country that continuously ceases to amaze me with the depth of its food, culture, climates, and friendliness of its people every time I visit, which fortunately is quite often. Many people have Peru primarily on their bucket list for one...
There’s a popular saying that “red wine goes with meat and white wine goes with fish, or white meats”. Although this may be very overly generic, what happens when you take a break from meat and focus on vegetables; or are vegetarian? What happens to the...
I have not been cooking much home as of late. Travel does that. We just got back from our last trip to Patagonia. We took off for the weekend to stay at a newish hotel, Tierra Patagonia, and immerse ourselves in those southerly wind blown lands again. They cast...
It is totally possible to make a whole meal out of only vegetables. However, less than a year ago, I never would have believed that. This is now my “baseline” diet when eating at home. After changing my diet dramatically y cutting out gluten/wheat and all meat...
Yesterday evening, I needed to blow off steam from the office and went out for my favorite vuelta, walk, around Parque Forestal from the Fine Arts museum to Plaza Italia and back. Earlier that afternoon, it had been an infierno outside but now, as the...
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