FoodyChile

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A steady downpour didn’t seem to make much of a dent in the turnout for Estamos de Chancho Muerto, held August 6 & 7 in the Plaza de Armas of Talca. Maybe that’s just because the further south in Chile one goes, the more accustomed to rain people get. Or maybe Chileans really like their pigs. We tend to believe it the latter.

In fact the rain hardly seemed a factor. A very professionally looking tarp kept visitors dry as they wandered through the spread of BBQs, stews, salamis, roasts and sides, all using pork. In all the event, organized by Curico based culinary association Chef de Maule, served up some 32,000 portions over the course of two days.

Chile is a pork friendly place. Especially when it comes to all the hams and matured meats that they like here.  Preparations like Arrollado de Huaso (below), basically a roll of pork with chili, bacon and other seasoning that is boiled and then sliced for sandwiches. It looks a bit rough but its great for a cheap quick sandwich.

The stands were mixed, some you could buy products to take home, while others dished up portions of pork dishes. These weren’t your everyday recipes either, most of the stands tried to go past the typical, finding new combinations than just a meat and potatoes duo. One example was this plate of hummus topped with a longaniza, or pork sausage. Now the hummus was nothing more than mashed up chick peas, didn’t have any tahini, olive oil or other condiments that give hummus its flavor, but it still went well as a simple pure.

Another interesting dish that involves pork are prietas. Say interesting because they are blood sausages, so can invoke some emotion before you’ve even tried them.

Not all the products were prepared there on the spot. One of them had matured meats and salamis, all prepared according to Polish recipes and made in Ñuñoa in Santiago.

But the event was by no means only about the pork. Since it brought different chefs and associations from all over Chile, it was a great opportunity to try different styles of typical Chilean dishes. How about these sopapillas and pebre, from the north of Chile, that both incorporate mango and quinoa.

The north of Chile has all sorts of fascinating ingredients, fruits and other things that are not part of the typical Chilean diet. Fruits like tumbo, pictured below.

Tumbo is something you might have heard of before. It has a real tropical fruit feel to it. But Chañar, which Norchef vicepresident Fernando Madariaga showed to us, was something entirely new. It resembles some sort of nut, but inside, in a very thin layer between the outer peel and a very solid core, is a sweet, puddy like substance. It can be extracted to make a thick honey, which Fernando said is great as an alternative to sugar for pisco sour.

Now with all that food you’re going to get thirsty. As an event they took a bunch of different wines from the region and created an asemblaje that was really more of a melting pot of wine. But there were other options on hand, including a biodynamic option, as well as this artisan wine from Viña González Bastías, which uses the resurging pais grape for its production.

There were about three local breweries on hand, Curico and Talca now have more than a couple local brewers.

And of course what Chilean food festival would be complete with some of that strong, aguardiente based liquor that is sold everywhere, especially as you go south.

Then, desert.

Defintely worth the trip to Talca, the city in Chile with perhaps the most unattractive night life. But for Chancho Muerto, it’s got a new special place in our belly.

There are also some similar events being planned, but for the capital. So get ready.