This past winter break, I made my way to the very southern tip of the world. I was lucky enough to be part of a group of Penn State students who were going to explore gorgeous landscapes of Chile and Patagonia. Our trip began in the small town of Olmue, which is about two hours outside of Santiago. There were the most beautiful flowers, bursting with bright colors surrounding our little Hosteria. The air was warm and welcoming just like the people that greeted us. Our meals in the Hosteria felt like giant family dinners with food constantly coming out. The sweet ladies of the kitchen would bring big plates of cheese empanadas and berry smoothies to start the meals. Every fruit tasted like it was just picked out of a field.

Picture of Cheese Empanada from Hosteria in Olmue

It is evident that the people of Chile really enjoy their meals and take their time to get through several courses. Most meals consist of an appetizer, soup, entree, dessert, and coffee. The soup can sometimes be a salad instead and there are usually empanadas floating around somewhere. As a vegetarian on the trip, I realized that avacado is a popular dish to be eaten in the mornings at breakfast or as a snack throughout the day. Another ingredient that I came across quite often was corn, but not in its’ common form, it would be mushed up with different spices and could be served with fries or bread. It was also a common part of the soups served in the beginning of the meal. For the non-vegetarians on the trip, salmon quickly became the main entree for every meal. We definitely had a count going of how many dinners were salmon by the end of the trip, however, since the fish is so readily available and popular among the natives it was easy to understand why it was served so often.

Picture of Enchilada with Guacamole from Vegetarian Restaurant in Santiago

Our tour guide, Romina, made sure to keep us up to date on all the local favorites. One unique part of Chilean cuisine she introduced to us was a spice mix called Merque. Merque is a roasted spice mix that uses chiles unique to Chile! To the Chileans it’s almost like salt or pepper is for us here in the States. It can go on top of practically anything and just gives a little bit more kick and flavor to whatever you’re eating.

Picture of Salmon dish from Restaurant in Puerto Natales

Let’s not forget about the great Chilean desserts! Our very first meal in Chile, we had a dessert called Mote Con Huesillo, essentially this is a peach placed in a bowl of sugar water full of oats. The idea is to take a bite of the peach with the sweet oats. It’s unlike anything I’d ever had, it had a slightly strange texture which was not so appealing to a lot of people but it is a staple especially for Chilean children. My favorite dessert of the trip was a semolina pudding, semola con leche, the pudding was just the right amount of sweet and very refreshing it was topped off with a hot red wine simple syrup. Normally Chileans eat this dessert in big bowls, but we were served it in smaller pudding size portions( don’t worry we made up for it by having multiple)!

Picture of Salmon dish from Restaurant in Puerto Natales