Frutillar- food and other thoughts

Frutillar Bajo was a wonderful “beach” town 600 miles south of Santiago. The temps are similar to Cape Cod in May or June - bright sunshine and crisp breeze, with some rain to be expected. The town provided Instagram-worthy views and tourist-friendly shops, lodging, cafes, restaurants in an easily walkable village. The birds were wild. The most notable (maybe just the most noisy!) were this weird looking Black-faced Ibis. Holy moly, did they make a racket! They were quite large with a Suessian look about them, particularly when perched in the Suessian trees.

I would rate the food a 7 out of 10. The Germanic influence (from the 1800’s) has eclipsed most indigenous influences. Lots of pastries, cakes, fried food, hamburgers, and carne … LOTS of carne! I haven’t eaten that much meat in the past 2 years combined. Beef, pork, lamb, and chicken were ubiquitous. Carne Asada fresh off the grill greeted us everyday as we came off the water! Salmon is also everywhere, as the lake apparently has a very large salmon farming operation. Seafood of all types were plentiful since in Chile, you are never far from a coastline. And while vegetables as we think of them were scarce, avocados were everywhere and on a surprising number of dishes- often in the form of these cute little rosette-shaped circles that I have no idea how they made. The Chilean salad is tomatoes, onion and spicy pepper slices in a vinaigrette. Quantities were ample and the prices were quite reasonable.

Empanadas were our daily lunch or post-sailing snack from the club’s kitchen. So many interesting flavors in a baked (vs fried) dough - beef stew, carmelized onion & cheese, shrimp & cheese, pollo, curry, margherita, pear & blue cheese. I didn’t try them all, but my fave was the curry.

The Chilean wines were delightful - the local Carmenere (red) as well as Sauvignon Blanc. Chile has hopped on the local beer train with a nice variety of local IPAs, Pale Ales, Parters, and Pilsners. Of course the Chilean Pisco sours were a popular choice, but I found them a bit too sweet. The Chilean varies from the Peruvian. Which is “best” was a hot topic! The Peruvian has an egg white froth and made from Peruvian Pisco. The Chilean is a bit “brighter in flavor- no froth and made from the Chilean Pisco which is slightly different.Read more