by Brianna Langley | Feb 6, 2014 | Opinion
Due to popular demand, I’m dedicating this article to everything food. However, I’m still trying to decide how I want to go about this, even while I type. As I mentioned in a previous story, Chilean food is nearly undefinable. The best way to approach it is without expectation. Don’t expect it to resemble Mexican cuisine because it doesn’t. Don’t expect it to be all seafood because it isn’t. Don’t expect to have a European dining experience because you won’t. While Chilean food is certainly influenced by all of the above flavors, its very own flavors and combinations are incorporated into the cooking here as well. I think the best way to try to define Chilean food is to simply describe a few traditional dishes that I’ve had so far, and thereby give you a “taste” for what dining is all about down here. Escalopa This filling dish has a similar concept to chicken cordon bleu. Escalopa is bread crumb-encrusted chicken breast stuffed with ham, queso (melted cheese) and beef. While the concept may be similar to that of chicken cordon bleu, the taste is entirely different. The taste of Chilean escalopa is that of hardy, gamey meat combined with the smooth richness of the warm (usually served at a-bit-too-warm-to-eat-right-away temperature) queso harmonizes together just perfectly enough to give every bite of Chilean escalopa a warm, inviting taste. Café Helado This one is tough to write about because it’s one of my favorite Chilean dishes, but I’m not sure if it’s a drink or a dessert; or perhaps it’s an intertwined mixture of the two! Café helado is literally...
