Coming back from beaches of Maitencillo, Cachagua, and Zapallar on Route 5 near the provincial city of La Ligua, we always encounter ladies garbed in white shaking a white pompom and adorned by a large wooden picnic basket. My husband usually has a snack attack on the...
I am in the front seat of a 4x4 bouncing up a very steep road cut out of a tree-entangled hillside. A cloud of terracotta-colored dust fills the air, forcing up to shut the windows. To my left, expertly navigating these unruly roads, is a soft-spoken man, the...
Every now and then, I get obsessed with a country. It doesn’t always mean I am going to leave everything behind and move there, but there’s an undeniable attraction. One of those places that flirts with you, where the culture, people, and geography totally seduce you....
Every Chilean home has its own rendition of stuffed zucchini called zapallito italiano relleno in local speak. I always equate this homey dish to America’s beloved old-school macaroni-and-cheese. Every cook has their own special ingredients and usually, if you...
Here I am sitting, indecisive, paralyzed. How can something as fun as planning a vacation be so difficult? How the heck did my calendar get blocked for the next year already? You would think that since we’re in the business of planning other people’s vacations, it...
There’s a term that I really love here for describing spicy food. Let me qualify spicy first. The kind of delicious spicy that makes your taste buds stand at attention but does not scorch your palate nor have you downing liters of water (or milk) for relief. It’s that...
Horses and horseback riding are a huge part of South American culture. From the Chilean huasos, cowboys, in the Central Valley to the baqueanos down in Patagonia, the horse is revered, respected, and loved from north to south in Chile and beyond. In...
Corn Pie from Eatwine TV on Vimeo. Oh sigh. Summer nostalgia has officially hit. I know many of you are indulging in the sweet tastes of summer. Nothing says summer for me like sweet corn. Growing up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I remember pulling off the road...
Rice, beans, and chili come together to form a one-dish comfort meal Tacu Tacu is my current food obsession. It drives me crazy as it combines my two favorite carbs (beans and rice) into one chili-laden savory "tamale". I used to only order it when we went out for...
Photo: www.robertoseba.com I am at the end of what can only be described as one of those spectacular meals. You know … where you stop to take copious notes and numerous pictures (some call it food porn, I call it memories). The flavors, textures, sensations, all meld...
To all fellow Americans out there, I want to wish you all a very Happy Fourth of July. Honestly it didn’t really occur to me until this weekend that it was Independence Day on Monday. Even after more than a decade here, I still forget as the winter...
I love discovering the nuances of how food and wine pair, tango and play together. However, one topic I rarely talk about (publicly at least), is the concern of entertaining and pairing wine with our guests. I suppose it is a theme few people discuss, as...
June 7, 2011. I wake up and peer through the heavy, draped, velvet curtains of our hotel room overlooking the roof tops of Palermo Viejo. Darn, it’s one of those icky winter days when the clouds descend and shroud the city in a bone-chilling fog. Thick,...
I spent much of last week traveling in vast, northwestern Argentina in the region of Salta. Amid beguiling landscapes, I saw the vegetation-dense hills outside Salta (city), the high altiplano plains of Cachi and experienced the constant backdrop of the...
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1. Wild Geography: Let’s face it, Chile has wild geography. It lays like a noodle along South America’s southern Pacific coast spanning over 39 latitudes. If you were to fly from Arica to Punta Arenas, that’s akin to going from Boston to LA in the US. However,...
These gluten-free cheese bread puffs are delicious and fast to make! Hailing from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, these cheese breads, known as pão de queijo, are extremely popular throughout Brazil and are gaining popularity abroad. Brazilians use polvilho, a...
I feel somebody studying my face; it feels like a test. I feel them examining me, not so subtlely, every angle and pore on my body. I sense him waiting for me to say a couple words to jump out and say what he cannot apparently control…; I feel it coming. It...
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