Wine and Food

You can find delicious products from the sea along the entire length of the Chilean coast. Fish like eel, corvina, grouper, reineta and salmon are used to make dishes like fried eel, baked corvina with seafood sauce, and salmon with capers. The coast also produces all kinds of seafood, including crab, sea urchin, razor clams, scallops and mussels, all of which can be prepared a number of ways. If you find yourself on the coast in Arica, Iquique, the beaches of Copiapó, La Serena, Valparaiso, Concón, Algarrobo, Valdivia or Angelmó, you simply have to sample these delicacies. In Chiloé, you can enjoy an abundance of oysters, while Easter Island is famous for its Polynesian fish.

If you find yourself in the country's central valleys, try the empanadas (available in meat, cheese and seafood varieties), the generously portioned sandwiches, cazeula (a traditional stew), pastel del choclo (corn pie), humitas (steamed corncakes), porotos granados (bean stew), longanizas (sausages) and the variety of dishes made with beef and pork. All of this and more is available in Santiago, Santa Cruz, Talca, Chillán, Concepción and Osorno. Meanwhile, the cities of Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Varas, Frutillar and Puerto Octay await you with exquisite German confections that form part of a tradition passed down by the colonists who came here in the 19th century.

In Patagonia, you will find such non-traditional meats as boar and ostrich as well as the famed spit-roast lamb and spider crabs.

If you want to bring home a souvenir or gift, local shops offer spicy and wine-based marmalades, organic honey, Mapuche condiments (like the spice merkén), excellent olive oils and, of course, a wide selection of wine and pisco.