the curanto infographic. Chiloe Gastronomy
Share in your social networks:

What to eat in Chiloe Island?

What to eat in Chiloe Island?

Chiloé gastronomy is as famous as its traditions and mythology. In this area you can taste unique flavors made with typical ingredients, such as potatoes, which are prepared in different ways and are used as an accompaniment in almost all their dishes.

It was formed from the fusion of Spanish cuisine with Mapuche cuisine, with influences also from Argentina.

Curanto is one of the emblematic preparations of the traditional cuisine of Chiloé. This dish that traces its origins to the Chonos, the first settlers of the island, is prepared in a hole in the ground, filled with very hot stones. Different types of meat are introduced into it: beef, lamb and pork; cold cuts such as sausages and sausages, fish and

local seafood, including clams, cholgas, mussels and piures. Finally, all the food is covered with nalca leaves and covered with more stones, so that the heat cooks it in about an hour and a half.

Chiloé casserole is another traditional preparation, which is prepared with seafood, potatoes and cabbage, including piures and other types of seafood. Lamb viscera and other vegetables can also be added. The chapaleles and milcaos are prepared with potatoes. Chapaleles are a dough made with potatoes and flour that is cooked in water and served with sweet or savory dishes. Milcaos on the other hand are made with grated potatoes to which chicharrones are traditionally added and then fried.

The embers omelette is also prepared, which is a soft bread cooked on the grill, with or without pork rinds. When it comes to liqueurs, Chiloé is famous for its Licor de Oro, which is prepared with buttermilk, honey, and other flavorings. Others are some types of apple chicha, murta mistela, cauchague chicha and beet liquor, among others.

To eat it is worth choosing a typical place. Some of them are the Mercado de Castro, the waterfront in Ancud; and of course the “picadas” or small restaurants that can be found in all the towns of the island and where you can really taste the flavor of traditional Chiloé cuisine.

 

Gastronomy in Chiloe Island
The “Cocinerias” de Dalcahue or Dalcahue Kitchens

25 kilometers north of the city of Castro, the head of the island of Chiloé, is the town of Dalcahue, famous for the artisan fair and the traditional customs that are still present among its inhabitants. But the most important thing about the place is to visit the Dalcahue kitchens, to try typical dishes of the area.

 

Gastronomy in Chiloe: What are the Dalcahue kitchens?

If you are going to visit the kitchens of Dalcahue, you have to know that it is a closed area on the waterfront, built with the typical architecture of stilt houses on the island. The structure on the outside resembles a boat with round windows where you can look at the sea while trying some delicacy of the island.

There are more than 20 chefs in the place, so it is advisable to first take a walk to see what they offer and then if you choose the one you like the most. All the kitchens are open so that one can observe the cooking in the pots and how the products are prepared. Once you choose what to eat, the place does not have the traditional tables of any restaurant, but they are large bars with wooden chairs around the kitchens and at the ends of the place.

 

What to eat if you are going to visit the Dalcahue kitchens?

All the products that are cooked in the place are fresh, especially the fish and shellfish that are unloaded directly onto the waterfront from the fishermen’s boats.

If you are going to visit the Dalcahue kitchens, you have to know the highest proportion of dishes are from the region and you can taste authentic delicacies such as:

  • Beef or poultry casserole
  • Roast pea chicken
  • Paila marina
  • Seafood Caldillo
  • Fish like salmon and hake
  • Roast beef or lamb
  • Stuffed potatoes
  • Cheese or seafood patties
  • Curanto

 

 

 

 

The Curanto in Chiloe

The curanto al hoyo is the most genuine sample of Chiloé gastronomy. Attending its preparation is a vibrant experience, a tip of a very spiritual cultural structure.

 

Gastronomy of Chiloe: What is the Curanto?

Curanto is a very common cooking technique, especially in southern Chile, but not exclusive to Argentine and Chilean Patagonia. Today it is considered a meal of celebration and encounter, but it also has a strong symbolic / ritual heritage. It requires many hours of preparation and there are several people involved in the process. It combines the flavors of the sea and the land, while allowing each food to retain its flavor and texture.

The oldest voice is curantu. It derives from the Mapuche CURA “stone” and ANTU “sun, heat”. Although, the second component could be a collective CURA: -NTU “pedregal”. For the Mapuches it is also cahuiñ (“fence of the moon and the sun”), because it summons, gathers around a circle.

It is believed that it came from Polynesia and was adopted by the peoples who already inhabited the Chiloé coasts, long before the entry of the Mapuches to Chiloé. Elsewhere, this cooking technique is known as: the Hawaiian imu, the umu from Samoa and Easter Island, the ahima’a from Tahiti, the Maori hangi, and the mumu from Papua, New Guinea. The Inca version is the pachamanarca (from the Quechua “pot of the earth”) from Peru, Ecuador and northern Argentina. The calapurca is from the north of Chile. In Bolivia it is the wathiya or wajaña and in Brazil and Paraguay they have the paparuto.

Today curanto is made to be consumed immediately, usually in the summer season, and not to preserve smoked foods for long periods as was done in the past.

Generally speaking, the components of curanto are stones, fire and food. The curanto performed in the hole, begins with the excavation of a well where the stones will be placed, on the firewood and as the wood is consumed, they fall to the bottom of the stove reddened by the heat. Then, in a fast and coordinated work, the food to be cooked will be arranged in layers: seafood (cholgas, mussels, tacas, etc.) and other catch of the day; meats (preferably smoked); Sheathed legumes (for example beans), potatoes, masses (such as milcaos, chapaleles and nick that will be arranged on pangues, the leaves of the nalca). It is usually served with pebre, a mixture of coriander, tomato, lemon juice, garlic oil, salt and chili.

The cooking time is the key to curanto, since it is only uncovered to consume it. According to the dimensions and expertise of those who make it, the cooking can vary between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. When the curanto is sweating it is time to uncover it and as at the beginning, but in reverse, the layers are removed in a cloud of steam and expectation, especially if the diners are going to eat it on the spot.

 

the curanto infographic - The gastronomy of Chiloe, Chile

 

Share in your social network:

Check other interesting articles

Open chat
Need help?
Hello, can I help you?