“Chile is very reserved,” Agarwal told me when I dined with him at the restaurant. “I would say almost European compared to other Latin American countries. But at the same time there is so much creativity going on, especially in the culinary scene with chefs implementing techniques they learnt abroad with Chilean ingredients.”
Bucking typical Latin stereotypes, Chileans have a reputation for being formal, reserved and closed. It’s hardly surprising given the nation’s turbulent past. Ending in 1990, a 17-year military dictatorship left a sobering legacy of silence, fear and distrust. Although a creative energy has been quietly simmering below the surface for some time, there have been no great explosions in the international arena. Self-promotion is not part of the national psyche, but humility shouldn’t be mistaken for dullness.
When I first visited Santiago 15 years ago, the Chilean capital was unfairly labelled as bland and boring. Inspired and intrigued by what I’d seen and eaten in Mareida, I returned hoping to find out why Chile is finally having its long-overdue moment.
The best way to get acquainted with any destination is on the street. “Men in suits and tradespeople would eat here,” explained food journalist Consuelo Goeppinger as we pulled up stools at a wooden table in Bar Nacional 3, one third of a small string of downtown diners serving workers of all classes since the 1960s.
Dish from Mareida
Clay ‘greda’ pots filled with pastel de choclo – a savoury casserole topped with a sweetcorn crust – were accompanied by Palta Reina, a classic dish of using locally-grown avocados as soft as butter. “In Chile, if there is no avocado, there is no life,” insisted Goeppinger, claiming “avo toast was invented here”.
There were no heirs and graces as I bit into a doorstep sandwich stuffed with churrasco beef lathered in mayonnaise. Resting her hand on my arm, my culinary guide whispered reassuringly: “We have a phrase in Chile – ‘sine qua non’ – meaning ‘something essential’, which applies here. It’s not a sandwich unless you have juice dripping down your chin.”
