Chilean Experiences: National Holidays and Full Tummies

Now that the national holidays have ended and the highways are again clogged with people making their way to work, ones waistline is left in peace to reect on the food fest that is Chiles national holiday, or estas patrias. Chileans celebrate their independence on the 18th of September and they do so in the spirit of so many South American countries; excitedly and with the ritual consumption of copious amounts of pastries, meat and alcohol. From tip to tail of this incredibly long skinny land, the holiday season begins several weeks before, with sales and the suggestive tone that soon one will be able to eat their bodyweight in meat. Workers prepare their applications and excuses to take sick leave the day before and after the holiday enternally productive! and homes and businesses are decorated with Chilean ags During the build up, the daily news begins to take on a holiday-season tone: New safety regulations for the use of volantines (kite ying) are sketched out, prohibiting children from playing too close to highways. The nutritional value of meat is discussed and people advised on how to avoid weight gain during the season. Hangovers are denounced and fail-safe methods for reducing the especially sneaky variety of hangover delivered by chicha (sweet, fermented grape juce) are identied. (And as in so many cultures, the hair of the dog method purports excellence.)

Then nally the season hits and friends and families gather to have an asado (barbeque), drink chicha, y volantines, frolic in a fonda (local street party) and dance cueca (the national dance), many dressed in traditional trajes de huaso or chinita dresses. Along with roast meat, kites and devilishly sweet alcoholic drinks, empanadas play an enormous role in the relative success or failure of your 18th of September experience. Not long before the public holiday, local companies compete for the prized position of Best Empanada of the Year, subjecting their creations to the rigorous testing methods of several nationally famous (and appropriately rotund) food critics. The traditional empanada de pino is on the menu; and lled with minced meat, onion, half a boiled egg and one olive it packs a hearty punch. And goodness me, I learned that these triangular pastry bundles are an exact science. For one, they are not to be eaten with salad (What youre doing there with your empanada, its just not Chilean, I was told as I decorated my plate with greens) and secondly, the traditional egg to olive ratio is sacred. Dont even raise the question of introducing vegetarian empanadas, or whether two olives and less egg would be better if eggs make you squishy, give yours to a friend. Be creative and ask for their olive. Youre a vegetarian? Sorry, bad luck.

But everything festival related is by no means as militant as the empanada ratio. If you nd yourself in Chile during September, the already jocular Chileans are in their highest spirits of the year so do consider sticking around to have a bit of a bash and awkward try at cueca. Itll make for an entertaining holiday snap!