Our JOURNAL
ARCHIVES
Discover the Wines of South America
This weekend, I jet to the US for series of South American-driven events. While many of them are with private chef associations like Les Dames d'Escoffier, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), New York Women's Culinary Alliance, and universities (including...
Cafe-Cafe, Por Favor: The Nescafé Phenomenon in Chile
If you live in Chile, travel here, or try to google anything about coffee in Chile, you will no doubt come across "Nescafé". Yep, it's rampant. Sure, it seems like an oddity given that we are next door to Colombia, Peru, and Brazil where they grow...
Buenos Días, Mr. Domingo
Sunday morning is my favorite day of the week. All the pressure is off wake up up early. There's no traffic honking outside my windows. Even the dog downstairs that barks incessantly is asleep. The city feels so peaceful. I also love that it's perfectly acceptable to...
Ditch that Guidebook…Foodie Travel E-guides are Hot
You know the sensation. You are packed out, weighed within the luggage allowance, and are ready to roll. Then you look at the bed and spot that 2-inch thick, 4-pound monster of a guidebook that you have to schlep with you everywhere on vacation. If you...
Move Over Chimichurri, Uruguayan Salsa Criolla is in the House
You know, with all the zesty sauces in South America, how come chimichurri steals all the thunder? Chileans make at least a dozen versions of mean pebres, from spicy-as-hell green chili and cilantro to the garden vegetable variety. Uruguay too has its creole...
Mature Wines: Bodega Bressia
I am sitting on a very cush couch sipping a velvety Malbec, noshing on some cheese, and talking to Walter Bressia. Walter is the owner, founder, and winemaker of Bressia, a boutique winery in Mendoza. The topic of discussion? Mature wines—and why these...
El 18: Chile’s Gastronomic Superbowl
Feliz cumpleaños Chile! Today Chile rings in another Independence day, kicking off the year of its Bicentennial birthday in a big way. Colloquially referred to as "Dieciocho", meaning 18, the day actually celebrates Chile's official rupture from Spain on...
Energize and Alkalize
Since we moved to our little interim apartment (just the office, a galley kitchen, “meeting” room, and bedroom), life has been crazy busy. Crazy busy as in we have so much work between our growing business, the cookbook we are writing/photographing, and...
One and Only
I have been in a bit of an introspective mode recently. Perhaps it is the change and growth in our business, living in the new, interim apartment, and the amazing process of watching nature rebirth herself in early Spring. This morning at the gym, as I watched...
Sweet Dreams in Chile
A friend, who's the owner of an ultra luxury hotel, once told me, "a bed is no longer just a bed". At first, I didn't quite grasp what she meant. After staying in her hotel on several occasions, I now get it. Today, unique hotels have to bring something more...
The Art of Cooking with Greda (Clay)
In Chile, traditional cooking vessels are made with greda, natural clay. Much of greda is still hand thrown the homes of dusty country towns throughout the central valley like Pomaire (terra cota color ), near Pichilemu (fleshy colored), and in the south...
Bienvenido September -and Empanada Mania
The first of September begins to wake Chileans from their deep sleep of winter hibernation. The weather turns spring like with orchards blooming in an array of white and pink blossoms. The days get longer, the sun warmer. The hills are emerald green and the...
Conger Eel with Warm Fava Bean-Spicy Sausage Salad
Congrio con Ensalada Tibia de Habas-Longaniza To be honest, I didn’t really like favas at all when I first tasted them as a college student in Chile. My host family boiled the hell of out of them to the point of a drab olive green and ate them, including the bitter...
Happy Gillmore
Hacedor de Mundos, Cabernet Franc Reserva 2006 I will confess that this wine has been on my radar for a long time. For one reason or another, perhaps because it was Cabernet Franc which kind of came off as "uninspiring", I put off trying it. On my last visit to my...
Chilean-Style Tomato Salad/Ensalada Chilena
I will never forget the first time I ordered “Chilean Salad” back as an exchange student. Expecting a heaping bowl of greens, to my dismay, what arrived was a simple plate of peeled tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. The waiter, sensing my confusion, quickly explained...
Comfort a la Carte
What I have most missed since I moved to Chile, now almost nine years ago, are those homey meals; the comfort food I used to eat at my Mom's house, with my grandmother, in diners, and my favorite ethnic dives. When I pine for those flavors, what I am really...
Tasting Chile by Land, Sea, and Air
Published in LAN Airlines "IN" Magazine, August 2009. Text: Liz Caskey Photos: Francisco Ramírez Life is perfect. I am on the top deck of the ship, lying in a warm, bubbly thalassotherapy bath with a glass of dry, sparkling wine, scented with a fresh...
Open Mind, Open Mouth
I will never forget my first oyster. Who does? There it was, sitting on the plate, staring intently at me. Bright, fleshy, and gleaming. It smelled of the sea. The idea it was still alive and soon to find its future at the bottom of my stomach was not exactly...
and the meaningful
