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123 recipes

DobladitasFolded lard breads

In the south of Chile, from Concepción down through Temuco and Chiloé, dobladitas are baked for breakfast and the evening once: rounds of a lard-enriched dough brushed with more melted pork lard, folded in half and in half again, and baked until the layers puff and flake apart. Eat them warm, pulled into their layers, with tea and butter (or margarine to keep them dairy free), jam or avocado. The lard is pork fat. The common mistake is using cold, hard lard for brushing; it must be melted and warm, so it soaks between the layers and makes them separate. Chef's tip: roll the folded pieces only lightly, just to seal the layers; pressing hard squeezes the lard out and they bake up tough.

45 minChileanBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ensalada chilenaTomato and onion salad

Every Chilean barbecue, every plate of empanadas on 18 September and most weekday lunches come with this salad: ripe peeled tomatoes and white onion cut into fine 'feathers' (corte pluma), dressed with oil, salt and coriander, sometimes with a little green chilli. It is cool, juicy and sharp, the perfect counterweight to grilled meat or a bean stew. The mistake that ruins it is using raw onion straight from the board: it overpowers everything. Soak the slices in cold salted water first and they turn sweet and crunchy. Chef's tip: peel the tomatoes, as Chileans do, so they drink up the dressing.

20 minChileanSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Catuto (mültrün)Pounded wheat cakes

In the Mapuche communities of Araucanía, around Temuco, mültrün (catuto in Spanish) is made by cooking whole wheat grains until soft, then pounding them on a grinding stone into a sticky dough that is shaped into little logs. They are eaten as they come, toasted on the hearth, or dipped in honey or pebre, and they are sold in Temuco's market alongside merkén and piñones. A food processor does the job of the stone. The usual mistake is undercooking the wheat: the paste won't hold together. Chef's tip: shape with wet hands, and flatten the logs slightly before toasting so they crisp on two sides.

85 minChileanBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cola de monoCoffee and milk liqueur drink

In Santiago, December means cola de mono: bottles of cold, coffee-coloured spiced milk that families make days ahead and open on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, poured beside slices of pan de pascua, the dense Chilean fruit cake. The traditional version is for adults only, spiked with grape aguardiente; pour small glasses and drink responsibly. It tastes like a sweet, cold café con leche with cinnamon, clove and orange, the aguardiente adding a warm finish, and the texture is smooth and light, never thick. Each glass has about as much caffeine as a small, weak coffee, so use decaf for anyone sensitive. The classic mistake is adding the aguardiente while the milk is still hot: much of the alcohol steams away and the milk can catch and curdle. Let the spiced milk cool completely first. It is ready when the colour is an even tan, the spices smell strong but the milk tastes clean, and it is fridge-cold. It keeps 3–4 days in the fridge in clean bottles; shake before pouring and throw it out if it smells sour. Chef's tip: make it two days ahead; the spices keep blooming and it tastes noticeably rounder.

30 minChileanDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chupe de centollaKing crab and cheese stew

In Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, at the bottom of Chile, centolla (southern king crab) is the pride of every restaurant, and chupe is how it is served on a cold Magallanes evening: a soft, spoonable stew of crab meat cooked with bread, milk and stock until creamy, then topped with cheese and browned for a minute. It is looser than a crab gratin and eaten with a spoon. Any good cooked crab meat works. The usual mistake is boiling it fiercely once the cheese and cream go in, which makes the chupe grainy; keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: add the crab right at the end, just to heat through, so the big pieces of king crab stay whole and sweet.

45 minChileanFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChumbequeLayered honey biscuit

Iquique's Chinese community began baking chumbeque in the port's corner shops more than a century ago, and today it is the city's edible souvenir: crisp, honey-sweet pastry stacked in thin layers with a sharp lemon filling and a sticky guava one, cut into small bricks. People take it home from the Zofri market or nibble it with tea at once. At home, bake it as one slab and slice it when cold. Many people roll the dough too thick, which gives a cakey, dry bar instead of fine layers; aim for 3 mm. Chef's tip: chill the rolled sheets for 10 minutes before you stack them so they don't stretch out of shape.

85 minChileanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

CancatoSalmon with cheese and tomato

Cancato belongs to Chiloé and the lakes around Puerto Montt, where salmon is everyday food: a whole fillet is opened like a book, stuffed with melting cheese, tomato, onion and slices of longaniza (a pork sausage like chorizo), then wrapped and cooked over embers or in the oven. It is party food, cut at the table. The common mistake is putting raw sausage inside: it won't cook through before the salmon dries out. Fry it first. Chef's tip: wrap the parcel in foil with the seam on top and open it for the last 5 minutes, so the cheese browns while the salmon stays juicy.

50 minChileanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Caldillo de congrioConger eel and potato broth

Caldillo de congrio is the soup of the central coast, from the fish stalls of Valparaíso to the little restaurants of Isla Negra, where Pablo Neruda wrote an ode to it: firm pieces of congrio (a white cusk-eel, not a true eel) poached in a tomato and onion broth with sliced potatoes, finished with a splash of cream and plenty of coriander. Outside Chile, use kingklip, monkfish, ling or thick hake. The common mistake is boiling the fish with the potatoes from the start; it falls to shreds. Add it at the end. Chef's tip: make the broth with the fish bones and trimmings if your fishmonger gives them to you; it doubles the flavour.

60 minChileanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChapalelePotato dumplings

Chapalele is milcao's softer island cousin: mashed potato kneaded with wheat flour, shaped into flat discs and boiled, so the outside is smooth and slightly chewy and the inside soft. On Chiloé they come out of the curanto, sit next to a stew, or are eaten warm as a pudding with sugar syrup. The classic mistake is adding too much flour to a sticky dough, which makes them heavy and stodgy; dust your hands instead. Chef's tip: use dry, floury potatoes and mash them while hot, and the dough needs far less flour. For a sweet afternoon plate, drizzle them with dark cane-sugar syrup (chancaca) or honey if you eat it.

55 minChileanSidesVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChilenitosDulce de leche biscuit sandwiches

Chilenitos are small, fragile sweets from the bakeries and convent traditions of Chile's countryside: two paper-thin, crisp biscuits sandwiched with manjar and coated on top with a glossy white meringue. They are a fixture of once, christenings and the sweets table at weddings. The biscuits must be rolled almost transparent; thick dough gives a hard, dry chilenito. Chef's tip: use an Italian meringue (whites whisked with hot sugar syrup); it sets smooth and shiny and the eggs are cooked by the syrup, so it is safe to serve to everyone.

100 minChileanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Calzones rotosKnotted orange fritters

Few sweets have a funnier name: calzones rotos, 'torn knickers', are strips of soft dough with a slit in the middle, one end pulled through to make a twist, then fried and buried in icing sugar. Chilean families fry a big plateful on rainy winter afternoons, and they are sold in paper bags at fairs from Valparaíso to Concepción. The usual mistake is oil that is too hot: they brown in seconds but stay raw and doughy inside. Keep it at 175 °C. Chef's tip: dust them with icing sugar only when they have cooled a little, so the sugar stays white instead of melting.

45 minChileanDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chirimoya alegreCherimoya in orange juice

Chileans call it 'happy cherimoya': ripe custard-apple pulp dropped into fresh orange juice and served ice-cold. It turns up as the summer dessert after a big lunch in the Central Valley and in the Aconcagua valley, where much of Chile's cherimoya grows. The fruit should be soft like a ripe avocado; a hard one tastes starchy. The most common mistake is preparing the fruit ahead without juice, so it turns brown and loses its perfume: drop each piece straight into the orange juice. Remove every black seed, as the seeds must not be eaten or crushed. Chef's tip: squeeze the oranges yourself and taste before you sweeten; good juice often needs no sugar at all.

15 minChileanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Arrollado huasoRolled spiced pork belly

Arrollado huaso, the 'countryman's roll', is the pork belly roll of the Central Valley: a flat piece of pork belly spread with ají paste, garlic and cumin, rolled tight, tied and wrapped, then simmered for hours and sliced cold. It is the star of September fondas and Christmas tables, sliced thin with hot bread, pebre and boiled potatoes. The mistake that spoils it is a loose roll, which unwinds and cooks unevenly; tie it every 3 cm. Chef's tip: cool it overnight in its cooking liquid with a weight on top; it sets firm and slices into neat spirals. The pork must reach 71 °C in the centre, as the rolled-in surface is now inside.

190 minChileanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChochocaPotato flatbread

On Chiloé, chochoca is a feast-day sight: potato dough wrapped round a thick wooden pole and turned slowly in front of the fire until it browns, then sliced off, filled and rolled up. Islanders often fill it with pork crackling; this vegetarian version uses butter and sugar, or cheese. Without a fire pit, roll the dough into thin rounds and cook them on a hot griddle, which gives the same chewy, toasty bread. The usual mistake is a wet dough: squeeze the grated potato really dry or the sheets tear. Chef's tip: if you have a barbecue, wrap the dough round a foil-covered rolling pin or thick metal pipe and turn it over glowing coals for the true smoky crust.

80 minChileanBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Arrope de chañarChañar fruit syrup

In the oases of the Atacama, from San Pedro to Toconao, the small brown fruit of the chañar tree is gathered in late summer, dried in the sun and boiled for hours into arrope, a molasses-like syrup with notes of dates and caramel. Grandmothers keep a bottle for winter coughs, but most of it ends up on toast, stirred into hot water or over mote (cooked wheat) and fresh cheese. Dried chañar is sold in northern markets and online; it needs no sugar at all. The classic mistake is walking away at the end, when the syrup thickens fast and scorches, turning bitter. Chef's tip: stop reducing when the syrup coats a spoon thinly; it sets much thicker as it cools.

240 minChileanBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MerkénSmoked chilli seasoning

Merkén comes from the Mapuche kitchens of Araucanía: cacho de cabra chillies are dried, smoked over a wood fire, then ground with toasted coriander seed and salt into a brick-red powder that is smoky, warm and lightly hot. In Temuco and across the south it is shaken over potatoes, eggs, sopaipillas, grilled fish and soups. Outside Chile, use dried smoked red chillies, or plain dried red chillies plus smoked paprika. The mistake to avoid is scorching the chillies in the pan: if they blacken, the whole jar is bitter. Chef's tip: grind it a little coarse, as it is sold in Temuco's market, so the coriander seeds stay noticeable.

23 minChileanBasicsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Budín de zapallo italianoBaked courgette pudding

In late summer, when courgettes (zapallo italiano) pile up in Santiago's ferias, home cooks turn them into budín: a soft, savoury bake bound with eggs, milk and cheese, served in squares with rice or a tomato salad for a light weekday lunch. Chileans use mild queso chanco or gouda, which is usually made with animal rennet; choose a cheese marked vegetarian if that matters to you. The big mistake is skipping the draining step: courgettes are mostly water, and a budín made with wet courgette weeps in the dish. Chef's tip: salt the grated courgette, leave it 15 minutes and squeeze it hard in a clean tea towel until it stops dripping.

65 minChileanVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Café de higoFig and grain coffee

In the farmhouses of central Chile, in the Maule and O'Higgins valleys, people have long drunk café de higo: a dark, caffeine-free "coffee" made from dried figs roasted with grains such as barley and wheat, then ground. It's mellow, fruity and slightly caramel-like, and many Chileans still prefer it with milk at breakfast. The fig granules are sold in Chilean and Latin grocers. The common mistake is brewing it like instant coffee, with a quick stir; it's a ground blend, so simmer it briefly and strain. It contains grains, so it is not gluten free. Chef's tip: a strip of orange peel in the pan brings out the fig flavour.

10 minChileanDrinksVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ave paltaChicken and avocado roll

In Santiago's fuentes de soda and school kiosks, the ave palta is the lunch everyone orders: a soft hallulla or crusty marraqueta roll filled with shredded chicken in mayonnaise (ave mayo) and a thick layer of mashed avocado, palta. Chileans pack it for the office and for long bus journeys. The common mistake is mixing warm chicken with mayonnaise, which turns oily and is a food-safety risk; cool the chicken first. Pack it with an ice pack. Chef's tip: mash the avocado with lemon and salt just before assembling, so it stays green until lunch.

25 minChileanChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chancho en piedraCrushed tomato, garlic and chilli salsa

Despite the name, 'pig in stone' has no pork in it. It is a rough salsa of ripe tomato, garlic and chilli crushed in a stone mortar (piedra), and it is on the table at every September fonda during the Fiestas Patrias, with hot sopaipillas, bread straight from the oven or choripán. Blending it smooth in a machine is the classic mistake: it should be rustic and juicy, with small pieces. Chef's tip: pound the garlic, chilli and salt to a paste first, then add the tomatoes; the salt acts as grit and the flavour gets into every bit.

15 minChileanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huevos a la copaSoft-boiled eggs in a glass

In Chilean homes, huevos a la copa are a weekday breakfast and a sick-day comfort: eggs boiled until the whites are just set and the yolks still runny, then scooped out of their shells into a small glass (the copa), broken up with a spoon, salted and eaten with warm marraqueta for dipping. The common mistake is timing from cold water, which makes the result unpredictable; lower the eggs into water that is already boiling. Runny yolks are not suitable for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people; for them, boil the eggs for 9–10 minutes until fully set. If you need it gluten free, serve with gluten-free bread. Chef's tip: a tiny knob of butter stirred into the hot egg in the glass makes it silky.

8 minChileanBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brazo de reinaSponge roll with dulce de leche

The 'queen's arm' sits in the glass cabinet of every Chilean bakery: a light sponge rolled around a thick layer of manjar (Chilean dulce de leche) and dusted with icing sugar. At home it is the cake for a birthday tea or an unexpected visitor, because it bakes in 10 minutes. The common mistake is overbaking: a dry sponge cracks as you roll it. Take it out the moment it springs back. Chef's tip: roll the sponge up in a sugared tea towel while it is still hot and let it cool that way; it remembers the shape and won't crack when you fill it.

35 minChileanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

CuchuflíFilled wafer tubes

Cuchuflí are the thin, crisp wafer tubes filled with manjar that vendors sell from baskets on Chilean beaches and outside football stadiums, and that children beg for at the Fiestas Patrias fondas. At home you can bake the wafers yourself and roll them round a wooden spoon handle. The usual mistake is waiting too long to roll them: the wafers set within seconds and crack. Bake only three at a time. Chef's tip: fill them with a piping bag just before serving, or the manjar softens the wafer; dip the ends in melted chocolate if you like.

30 minChileanDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Erizos con salsa verdeSea urchin with green salsa

On the docks of Punta Arenas and in the markets of Valparaíso and Puerto Montt, Chilean sea urchins are cracked open in front of you and their orange tongues (lenguas) piled on a plate with a sharp green sauce of onion, parsley, coriander and lemon. They taste of the sea, sweet and creamy, and are eaten raw with bread. Because the urchin is raw, this dish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Buy urchins live or freshly packed roe from a licensed fishmonger, keep it at 0–4 °C and eat it the same day. The common mistake is drowning the delicate roe in lemon, which 'cooks' and toughens it. Chef's tip: spoon the sauce over just before eating. For a safer version, serve the same salsa verde over cooked, chilled prawns.

15 minChileanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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