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...
Order Me a Vacation
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...
Culinary Icons: Coyam & Chilean Corn Pie (Video)
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...
Gardenia: Montevideo’s Foodie Spot
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...
Happy Fourth of July!
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...
Pairing People & Wine
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...
Argentina’s “White” Grape: Torrontés
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...
Scenes from a Recent Trip to Buenos Aires & Carmelo, Uruguay
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Making a Comeback: Uva País
Never heard of the grape called país in Chile? You’re not alone. This grape goes back to the times of colonization in Chile by the Spanish. It’s not considered a fine wine that any self-respecting wine writer would evaluate (until now, hmm). It is a rustic wine used...
Top Ten Reasons We Love Chile
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,...
Knack South American Cooking: Cheese Bread Bites
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...
Wines to Watch
A lot of you have been asking about the wines used during our events and tastings on my US road show in May. This post is going to profile a couple of those select producers that are boutique in size but high in quality and uniqueness. You can find these in the US now...
Chilean Papayas & Sea Bass, Featuring a delicious Chardonnay
Today’s video uses indigenous Chilean ingredients now being exported to the US. Chilean papayas are known as “carica candamarcensis,” or Mountain papayas, and have no resemblance to their tropical cousins. Similar in shape to a starfruit with a thin,...
The State of The Union
May was a whirlwind month with three weeks on the ground in the US from Pennsylvania, to the nation's capital, up to New York City and out to the windy city, Chicago. The trip was long and intense and I confess that the first few days I went through a bit of reverse...
Grilled Lamb Burgers with Avocado Mayo
Summer is just around the corner in much of the US (cold, rainy weather just a detail) and grilling seems to be synonymous with warm weather. This coming weekend, Memorial Day, officially inaugurates the picnic and barbeque season. Ahh, the smells of...
Three Funky & Innovative New Wines to Put on Your List
As I'd talked about in an earlier post, Santa Carolina as a winery has undergone a profound change from viticulture, to winemaking, to marketing and corporate image. It's fresh, new, and innovative, thriving on young blood and a lot of ganas, as we say in...
Berries in Carmenere Wine Sauce
Spring time has officially arrived in the US. My goodness, here on my tour stateside, the strawberries are coming into season and flooding supermarkets, roadside stands and farmers markets. While the natural inclination in these latitudes is to make up a...
The Time Is Now: Piedra Negra 2002
I think all of us wine lovers, collectors, enophiles, and foodies tend to accumulate bottles of wine. Whole cellars of them. There, the wine “babies” lie for many moons, even years or decades, waiting for that perfect moment to be opened and savored. Wine is so...
and the meaningful