Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

Filters (7)

71 recipes

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 min

Chilean Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Martín FierroCheese with quince paste

Ask for dessert in a Montevideo bodegón or a country parador and you may be offered a Martín Fierro: a thick slice of fresh, mild cheese laid with an equal slice of dense quince or sweet-potato paste, named after the gaucho of the epic poem. It's salty against sweet, soft against firm, and takes two minutes to assemble. Uruguayan fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so choose one with vegetarian rennet if that matters to you. The mistake is serving it fridge-cold, which dulls both flavours. Chef's tip: cut the cheese and paste to exactly the same thickness, about 1 cm, so every bite has both.

5 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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 min

Chilean Basics

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 min

Chilean Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

UlpoToasted wheat flour in milk

Ask any Chilean about ulpo and they'll remember being a child at the kitchen table in winter: harina tostada, wheat that has been toasted and ground into a nutty brown flour, stirred into warm milk and sugar until it thickens into a soft, comforting drink-cum-porridge. Harina tostada is sold in Latin grocers, but plain flour toasted in a dry pan gives a similar flavour. The common mistake is tipping the flour in all at once, which forms dry lumps; sprinkle it in while stirring. Chef's tip: let it stand for 2 minutes after stirring; the flour swells and it goes from thin to spoonably thick.

10 min

Chilean Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cocido quemadoBurnt sugar mate drink

Cocido is how Paraguay starts the day: in Asunción, in the villages of Guairá and Itapúa, and in school kitchens, a pot of burnt yerba is brewed and poured into cups with chipa, the cheesy cassava bread, or with a hard galleta. The old way is to drop a glowing piece of charcoal into a pot with yerba and sugar and stir until the sugar burns. On a home stove you caramelise them together in a dry pan instead, which is safer and gives the same smoky, toffee-like taste. The drink is clear amber-brown, with roasted, slightly bitter mate notes over burnt-sugar sweetness; with milk added it becomes cocido con leche, creamy and coffee-coloured. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so treat it like a cup of coffee. The common mistake is letting the sugar go black: it turns acrid and bitter. Pull it off the heat when the caramel is deep amber and the yerba smells toasted, not burnt. It is ready when the liquid is a clear dark amber and tastes of toffee and smoke. Chef's tip: the water will spit fiercely when it hits the hot caramel, so pour it in from the side, at arm's length.

14 min

Paraguayan Drinks

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 min

Chilean Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 1 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 min

Chilean Chicken

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 min

Chilean Chutneys & Dips

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 min

Chilean Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Machas a la parmesanaClams with parmesan

Machas a la parmesana arrive sizzling at almost every seafood restaurant on Chile's central coast: machas, the long, pink-tongued surf clams of the Pacific beaches, opened, set back in their shells and grilled under butter, cream and parmesan. Outside Chile, use razor clams or large clams. The usual mistake is grilling them too long; the clams are already cooked and turn to rubber. Grill only until the cheese browns. Chef's tip: open the clams briefly in a covered pan first rather than prising them raw, and keep any that stay shut out of the dish. Many restaurants add a splash of white wine; this version uses lemon juice instead.

25 min

Chilean Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pan con paltaBread with mashed avocado

Chileans eat more avocado than almost anyone, and in Santiago homes the breakfast table (and the evening once) almost always has warm marraqueta or round hallulla bread spread with palta: ripe avocado simply mashed with salt. It is less a recipe than a ritual, but getting it right matters. The common mistake is using hard avocados or mashing them into a smooth purée with lime and onion like guacamole; Chileans want ripe Hass avocado, only lightly mashed, and salt, nothing more. Chef's tip: warm the bread first and mash the avocado right on it with a fork, so it sinks into the crumb.

8 min

Chilean Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mate de muñaAndean mint tea

Muña is the minty shrub that grows wild on the slopes around Cusco, Puno and the Sacred Valley, and highland cooks reach for it after a heavy meal of chicharrón or when visitors are struggling with the altitude. Market herb sellers sell it in fresh bunches, and hotels and homes leave it in a flask for anyone coming in from the cold evenings. Steeped simply in hot water, it smells somewhere between spearmint, oregano and pennyroyal, with a cooling, slightly peppery taste and a pale green-gold colour. It is traditionally drunk to settle the stomach. The usual mistake is boiling the leaves hard for a long time, which turns the tea brown and bitter. Pour water just off the boil over the sprigs, cover, and let it steep. It is ready when the cup is pale gold and the aroma rises as soon as you lift the lid. Outside Peru, look for dried muña in Latin shops; failing that, use mostly spearmint with a little fresh oregano. Muña is strong: avoid large amounts in pregnancy, and check with a doctor if you take regular medication. Chef's tip: cover the cup while it steeps so the scented oils stay in the tea.

8 min

Peruvian Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

LampreadoCassava starch cheese fritters

Paraguayan grandmothers fry lampreado on Sunday evenings to eat with a mug of cocido, the toasted yerba mate drink: small pan-fried cakes of cassava starch, egg, milk and grated cheese with a little onion, crisp at the edges and stretchy inside. Some families also make it with leftover meat, but this version is all cheese. Queso Paraguay is set with animal rennet; a vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese plus mozzarella works well. The trap is a batter that is too thick, which gives heavy, gluey cakes. Chef's tip: the batter should drop slowly off a spoon like thick pancake batter; add milk a spoonful at a time until it does.

30 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Leche con plátanoBanana milk

Ask anyone who grew up in Chile, from Arica to Punta Arenas, what they drank after school and many will say leche con plátano. It is made in a blender in two minutes, usually at onces, the late-afternoon tea, alongside marraqueta rolls with butter or avocado, and it is the first thing many children learn to make by themselves. It is pale, foamy and thick enough to leave a moustache, tasting simply of sweet ripe banana and cold milk, sometimes with a pinch of cinnamon. The common mistake is making it ahead: within half an hour the banana turns the milk greyish-beige and the foam collapses, so blend it just before drinking. It is ready when it is completely smooth, light and frothy, with no banana lumps at the bottom of the jug. Use bananas with a few brown freckles: they are sweet enough that you may need little or no sugar. Chef's tip: slice and freeze overripe bananas, then blend them straight from the freezer; the drink comes out icy and extra thick without any ice.

5 min

Chilean Drinks

by KrazyBadal 1 views

Chilcano de piscoPisco and ginger ale highball

When Lima's grey winter finally lifts and summer reaches the beaches south of the city, the chilcano takes over from the pisco sour: lighter, longer and made for an afternoon. Peru even gives it a Semana del Chilcano each January, and it is poured at weekend lunches with chifa or fried fish. This is a highball for adults only: pisco poured over a tall glass of ice with fresh lime and ginger ale, finished with a few drops of bitters. It should taste crisp and fizzy, with the ginger and lime lifting the floral grape notes of the pisco rather than hiding them. The common mistake is using too little ice and warm ginger ale, which gives a sweet, diluted drink that goes flat in minutes. Fill the glass to the top with ice and keep the ginger ale in the fridge until the last second. It is ready when the glass is frosty, the bubbles race up the sides and the bitters drift through the top as a pink haze. Light it may be, but drink responsibly. Chef's tip: try a fruit-infused pisco, made by steeping passion fruit or mandarin peel in the bottle for a few days; Limeños love a chilcano de maracuyá.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jugo surtidoMixed fruit juice

Step up to any juguería in Lima's Mercado de Surquillo or a barrio market at breakfast time and order a surtido: the juicer drops papaya, banana, pineapple and freshly squeezed orange into a tall blender, sometimes a slice of cooked beetroot for colour or a splash of milk, and pours you a big glass with the rest left in the jug for your 'yapa', the free refill. It is thick but still pourable, sweet from ripe fruit with a sharp orange edge, the kind of drink that stands in for breakfast before a long day. The common mistake is adding lots of ice and water, which makes it thin and frothy rather than velvety. Use cold fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice as the liquid. It is ready when it coats the glass and no lumps of banana are left. This version is fruit only; stalls also make it with milk if you prefer. Drink it straight away: papaya and banana go brown and bitter within half an hour. Chef's tip: use very ripe papaya with orange flesh; under-ripe papaya tastes of nothing and gives a faintly bitter aftertaste.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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 min

Chilean Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Refresco de coconaCocona cooler

In Iquitos, Pucallpa and the river towns of Loreto, heat and humidity make a cold refresco part of every lunch, and cocona is one of the favourites sold from plastic jugs at the Belén market. The fruit looks like a fuzzy orange tomato and tastes between tomato, lemon and apricot: very sour, aromatic and juicy. Blended with water and sugar it makes a tangy, golden drink with a light pulp, served with juane or tacacho con cecina. The usual mistake is skipping the fuzz: cocona skin is covered in fine hairs that make the drink scratchy, so rub them off under running water before you start. Blend only briefly, too, so the many seeds do not crack. It is ready when the refresco is opaque orange, sour first and sweet after, with no grit. Outside the Amazon, look for frozen cocona pulp in Latin American shops; naranjilla (lulo) pulp is the closest substitute. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt makes the fruit taste sweeter and fruitier without more sugar.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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 min

Chilean Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pisco sour

Lima drinks its pisco sour as the aperitif before a long ceviche lunch, and celebrates it every year on the first Saturday of February; the recipe took shape in the city's bars in the 1920s. It is for adults only and stronger than its pillowy look suggests. Underneath a thick white foam you get sharp Peruvian lime, a clean sweetness and the floral, grapey warmth of quebranta pisco, with the bitters adding a spicy smell to every sip. The texture should be silky, almost creamy, never thin. The classic mistake is squeezing the limes too hard or too early: the oil from the pith turns the drink bitter within half an hour. Halve the limes, press each half gently by hand just before mixing and stop when the juice slows. The egg white is raw, so use pasteurised egg white for anyone pregnant, for babies, older people or anyone unwell, or swap in 30 ml aquafaba. It is ready when the foam stands about 1 cm high and is firm enough to hold the drops of bitters on its surface. Sip one slowly and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: shake once without ice first to whip the egg white, then again with ice; the foam will be twice as thick.

5 min

Peruvian Drinks

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 min

Chilean Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jugo de macaWarm maca drink

Before dawn at markets in Huancayo, Cusco and Lima, juice ladies ladle hot jugo de maca from big pots for workers on their way in: maca root, a turnip relative grown above 4,000 metres in the Junín highlands, simmered with milk, cinnamon and cloves and sweetened with honey or sugar. It tastes malty and toasty, a bit like butterscotch. The common mistake is stirring the powder straight into hot milk, which leaves gritty lumps; whisk it into a little cold milk first. Maca is not usually advised in pregnancy, so ask your doctor first if you are pregnant. Chef's tip: use gelatinised (cooked) maca powder if you can find it; it dissolves smoothly and is gentler on the stomach.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TereréIced yerba mate

In Asunción the hottest part of the day stops for tereré: a horn or cup packed with yerba mate, topped up again and again with ice water infused with crushed herbs, and passed round the group through a metal straw. It was recognised by UNESCO as part of Paraguay's cultural heritage, and the herbs (yuyos) change with the season and the drinker's mood. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so it isn't one for small children. The common mistake is pouring water straight into loose yerba, which then clogs the straw; tilt the yerba to one side first. Chef's tip: for tereré ruso, swap the water for cold orange or grapefruit juice.

10 min

Paraguayan Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 71 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1 of 3