Well, I am no longer in Puerto Varas. Actually, I am no longer on mainland Chile either. Instead, I am on the grand island of Chiloé. Chiloé is known for its mysticism, interesting food, and a completely different culture from Chile. Today, we got a bit of a taste of that new culture.
Falco (my German friend, with whom I have been travelling recently) and I arrived in Ancud, Chiloé yesterday. Luckily, we are staying at the same amazing hostel as our English friend Amanda. (We all met in Pucón.) Yesterday was also Falco´s birthday so we went out to eat in order to celebrate. Since Chiloé is famous for its seafood, Amanda and I decided to try paila marina, which is a type of soup with lots and lots of shellfish - clams, oysters, etc. The first half of the dish was delicious, but by the time we got halfway through, we didn´t even want to look at another marisco let alone eat one. Nevertheless, the dish at least deserves a 6 on a 10 point scale.
However, paila marina was just the beginning. Today, Falco and I went on a mission - to eat curanto, the typical dish of Chiloé. What is curanto exactly? Well, for starters, it is cooked in a half a meter deep hole in the ground. Yes, hole in the ground. Anyways, the place to go for traditional curanto is about 13km away in a town called Quetalmahue. In order to get there, Falco and I tried out hand at hitch hiking, which is quite common and popular down here. Don´t worry, Mom and Dad, we didn´t actually hitch hike because before we found a random stranger going our way, a colectivo stopped for us.
Okay, so we get there and immediately a man flags us over to his restaurant, which ended up being in the Lonely Planet guide (score!), and sat us down at one of his tables. Curanto was already in the ground cookin´. So how do you make curanto? Well, I´m no expert but what I gathered was this: First you get the stones heating up in the hole in the ground. Once those are to the right temperature you add all the ingredients, which include potato bread (a Chiloé thing), chorizo, lots of mariscos (yes I ate more mariscos - I officially have a marisco overdose), chicken, potatos, and even some ribs. Then all the food is covered with these huge leaves from the nalca plant. Believe me, these leaves are enormous! After everything is set, you let it cook for two or more hours. It is truly an incredible process. And once again, I found myself eating mariscos as well as delicious chicken, sausage, and ribs.
As it turned out, we ran into two other guys from our hostel, who were also in the market for some curanto. So we pulled two tables together and had a feast. Afterwards, as stuffed as we were, we decided to go for a little drive on the nearby peninsula-island. Now gives me the perfect opportunity to describe how beautiful this part of Chile is. Beautiful is an understatement, believe me. We all agreed that Chiloé is what we would expect Ireland or England to look like - green everywhere, normally dreary weather, large cliffs/bluffs overlooking rocky and cold water. Gorgeous. And when we arrived at the beach, we were even more stunned. I cannot even begin to describe it all in words. So you will all have to wait for my pictures, which will do it less than justice.
When all is said in done, I am falling in love with Chiloé and this isn´t even the half of it. Tomorrow we head to the capital of Chiloé, Castro, where there are houses on stilts and beautiful wooden churches that have withstood earthquake after earthquake. There is also a national park that we hope to check out. And of course an amazing artisan market that I wouldn´t miss for the world. So much to see and so much to do!
Hope you all are doing well back home. I miss you all soo much!
¡Ciao!
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