ALIMENTARIE

If you hadn’t already figured this out about me, food and cooking have been the dominant theme most of my life. For example, when the other girls were outside playing hopscotch or baseball, I was at the kitchen table creating recipe cards, pouring over the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook– completely engrossed in the double-paged spread in the Family BBQ section- or trying to figure out how to make cream puffs from scratch. It was like that when I was a kid. It’s like that now.

So, as you can imagine, when I was a kid, lounging on the couch after school watching one of my favourite TV shows about a ship-wreck on a desert isle, I was more interested in solving a culinary puzzle than in the romantic storyline of that particular episode of Gilligan’s Island.  And, unlike all the other kids who were willingly suspending their disbelief when Maryann appeared in her gingham dress with a dreamy coconut cream pie for the Professor, I sat trying to solve the puzzle, crack the culinary code, unravel the threads, as it were, of the big question; how the heck did she pull it off?

Where did she get the equipment? That cute apron? Those ingredients? I mean, I could figure out the coconut part, that was easy, but the sugar, the flour, the butter? Who takes all that on a “three-hour tour?”

As I said, food has always been a central focus for me, so you will understand my need to pull a “Maryann” on our recent trip to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Staying in a pretty little casita beside the Caribbean surrounded by coconut palms, was just too much of a temptation. So, one afternoon I made my way into town, past the white sandy beaches filled with the normal tourists who were soaking up the sun, to buy my ingredients.

First stop, a fresh coconut, which I actually purchased at a butcher’s shop underneath a vegan restaurant, run by a Costa Rican who had lived in Canada for 18 years, but that’s another story. Luckily, I had the foresight to ask the butcher to crack it in half for me. Next stop, the little grocers down the street to slightly torture a young shop clerk with my endless requests for help in finding the various “ingredientes.” After a near-disaster buying sour cream instead of whipping cream, I lugged everything back to the hottest kitchen on earth to bake my first-ever-from-scratch-with-a-fresh-coconut, coconut cream pie. Did I mention that the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius and 100% humidity?

Step one- the pastry. Well, the pastry was a breeze, but baking the pastry blind posed a bit of a problem seeing as I had neither parchment paper nor dried beans. Luckily, the casita had an inordinately large fridge/freezer, so I just threw the unbaked crust in the freezer to chill for a little while and then popped it into the counter-top oven, which I had moved onto the back deck of the casita as the temperature in the kitchen had begun to hover around 50, give or take.

Step two- the filling. The custard was really no problem at all, but I have to tell you, there is a bit of a knack to getting the coconut meat out of the shell. After struggling for what seemed like an hour, I finally pulled up a Youtube video and things moved along very nicely. Rule Number One- if you can’t figure it out, somebody has probably made a video!

Once out of the shell, the coconut meat required a little more work than the sharpest, that is to say not sharp in the slightest, knife in the kitchen could muster and so I bunged everything into the blender. In went the coconut meat, coconut milk, flour and cream, a few blasts of the motor later and out poured a beautiful coconut emulsion.  Heated on the hotplate, then whisked into the egg yolks and voila; a perfect coconut custard.   Pouring the custard into the cooled pie shell I made sure to leave a little in the bottom of the pot and while the custard set, I sat on the back stoop savouring every last drop. I am sure that Maryann would have approved.

Postscript…

After topping my pie with whipped cream and toasted coconut, I proudly carried it over to our Spanish teacher’s house where we were having a casual Spanish lesson while cooking dinner and drinking some very nice Chilean Chardonnay. Luis, our Chilean teacher and Almut, his German wife, who run a hotel and language school in Puerto Viejo had also invited a Costa Rican carpenter friend to join us. Before serving the pie, I, of course, had to tell them the whole Maryann/coconut cream pie/Gilligan’s Island story. You want to talk “lost in translation!” The more I tried to explain in my pidgin Spanish, the worse it got.  Nobody had a clue what I was talking about, except Doug, who was doing his best to salvage the story, but more importantly, to move things along so we could get to cutting that pie.   All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off and Elias, the Costa Rican, turned to me and with a glint in his eye and a little smirk, said quietly, “Meester Howell?” “Meesus Howell?” Giiillllleeegan?” and in that moment, a stranger became a friend. Which just goes to show, lounging on the couch watching sitcoms isn’t the worst thing a kid could do.  Thanks, Maryann… thanks, Gilligan!

When we are in a new place and want to get a feel for the food scene we always head to the same place and Santiago is no different. Where do you go to find the freshest food in town? The Central Markets, por supuesto! And, Santiago’s markets definitely deliver. As many visitors to Santiago will notice, the city is quite orderly, clean and has rather more of a Euro than a Latino feel, mostly because many of the historic buildings have been lost over the years due to earthquakes. Chile has a long history of quakes, the most recent being a Magnitude 8.8 that hit the country south of Santiago in 2010. So, much of the city core is filled with new buildings and is very orderly and quiet.  Not so in the bustle of the markets. This felt like the real Santiago.

Mercado Central, the first stop on our guided tour, is one of the oldest buildings in Santiago. Designed by British Architect Charles Henry Driver, it is a beautiful building of cast iron and glass. Driver was known for designing railway stations and other iconic buildings in cities across England and South America. And while the architecture is beautiful, I am more interested in the rows and rows of fresh seafood. Everything from scallops and clams- called machos here- to sea urchins, trucha and, much to our chagrin, farmed Chilean Salmon- Chile is one of the largest exporters of farmed Atlantic Salmon. Something not known by many salmon lovers is that much of the Atlantic Salmon found on menus in North America is, in fact, farmed in Chile and never swam in the waters of the Atlantic. But, that’s a rant for another day!

 

Meanwhile, back at Mercado Central, you can’t visit the fish stalls in Santiago without running into some congrio – conger eel – an apparent favourite of Chile’s Nobel Prize-winning poet, Pablo Neruda, who wrote an ode to the congrio entitled “Oda al Caldillo de Congrio.”   If you care to try a bowl, stop by one of the many seafood restaurants at the market. We chose Tio Willy’s and not feeling in the mood for an eel stew, I opted for a bowl of the seafood stew. I wouldn’t say it was the best seafood, I have eaten, but the setting made up for the slightly rubbery squid!

We visited the markets on New Year’s Eve and all of the fish mongers were in fine form.   Not quite the fish-throwing scene of Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, but close.  As Doug learned, be careful when you ask if they mind if you take a photo!

Our next stop was La Vega, an enormous market brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables, food stalls selling pastas and olive oils, cheeses and breads, and, lucky for us because we just happened to be having a craving…Santiago’s first Espresso Cart!   Café Altura is located in the back corner of La Vega and they make a mighty fine cappuccino, I must say.

 

New Year’s Eve, like everywhere else around the planet, is a big deal in Santiago. Fireworks galore, people everywhere, firecrackers going off at all hours. Outside the markets, vendors were selling yellow underwear- good luck befalls the wearer as midnight strikes, or so they say- containers of spray-confetti, firecrackers, and basically anything you can think of that will make a racket! Not being ones for the giganto Año Nuevo scene, we decided not to go to the city centre and instead opted for dinner at a great little Tapas Bar directly across the street from our B & B. Run by a Belgian ex-pat, Ruca Bar  serves inventive small plates made with local ingredients prepared by an Irish chef. Octopus is a popular dish in Santiago and Ruca Bar served it with a twist. The Pulpo on the Rocks was a play on octopus cooked in the traditional way, on hot rocks. This time, the “rocks” were potato croquettes dyed with octopus ink. Perfectly grilled octopus and a nice glass of Chilean red?  Perfecto!  And, being suckers for a good burger, we had to order the Mini Pulled Pork and Osso Bucco Hamberguesas.   As we slid back across the street just before midnight, we were invited to join a small Año Nuevo celebration with the owners of our hotel, Monica and Claudio!  Chilean bubbly at midnight and loads of hugs and kisses from the nicest people?  Not a bad way to start 2015!

 

Our last night in Santiago was reserved for dinner at a new-ish gastro spot called d.o. Restoran. Known for its “cocina originaria” or, designation of origin cuisine, d.o. Restoran prepares local and regional Chilean ingredients in innovatively delicious ways. Without the Espacio Culinario sisters, Fran and Anita, we would never have found this great place. The chef, Juan Morales, was a runner-up in Top Chef Chile, spent ten years working in top kitchens in Spain and is the head of an NGO that works with street kids by providing them scholarships to culinary schools.

Luckily for us, Fran requested the eight-course tasting menu when she booked, and being one of only a few tables as it was just after New Year’s, we were given the royal treatment. And, annoying photo-taking access to the kitchen.  Always helps to have a couple of local foodies at your table!

Our first course was simple, fresh-baked mini Bocados de Damas,  served piping hot in a brown bag with pickled onions, octopus ceviche and a chilled Chilean lager on the side! Each course was served on simple Chilean pottery and featured traditional recipes made with indigenous ingredients, re-constructed for a modern twist.   Loco, a shellfish similar to abalone was perfectly “cooked’ in a lime marinade and served with pickled vegetables.

 

After our first course, we moved inside to get down to the serious eating. Roasted trout, coated with a black olive tapenade, sat on a cloud of quinoa and vegetable pilaf.  Loco, a shellfish similar to abalone was perfectly “cooked’ in a lime marinade and garnished with pickled vegetables. Slow-braised pig’s cheeks cozied up to pureed camote– sweet potato-  and cebolla frita- crispy fried onions.  Cow’s Tongue, to be honest, not something I would eat by choice, was made surprisingly delicious with a garnish of avocado mousse and vegetable ceviche.  Quinoa Salad, garnished with micro-greens… cannelloni stuffed with goat…I’m sure I’ve left a course or two out.

Each new dish seemed to out-due the last, and if I was a really diligent food writer, I would have taken extensive notes. But, we were having too much fun to get bogged down in the minutia. And, lucky for us, Anita is a trained sommelier and chose a delicious Chateau Los Boldos, Carménére that paired perfectly with everything.  Even the three, I kid you not, THREE…dessert courses!  Milk Ice Cream with sweet milk foam and candied papaya on a bed of white chocolate “sand,” a mini custard-filled beignet with mango helado and, just when we thought it had all, sadly, come to an end, the chef sent out a platter of quince jellies and mini bread puddings.

 

I’m not usually a fan of tasting menus. I find that the whole culinary experience is so contrived that you leave forgetting most of what you ate and feeling completely over-stuffed. Not so at d.o. Restoran. Surprisingly, we left feeling very content, in a bit of a wine glow, and lamenting the fact that the following day we would move on, leaving our new-found foodie friends behind. We vowed to return. There were way too many restaurants that still needed to be checked out and, let’s not forget, we never got a chance to try that famous Chilean hot dog, “ El Completo!”