Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Things I Love

So I have written about the things that I miss from the States (I forgot to include string cheese), but I have neglected to write about some of the things that I really like about Chile.

FOOD
1. Mustard. Their mustard is very distinct. It is a little sweeter than our mustard back home, and as I have been told, it is actually the best mustard in all of Latin America.

2. Manjar. This is comparable to caramel but it isn´t quite as sweet. It is kind of in between chocolate and caramel. It is heavenly.

3. Milk. Even though it is low fat, it doesn´t taste like it- it tastes really rich. Plus, there are many different kinds of milk- banana milk, chocolate milk, manjar milk, frutilla milk (frutilla is a mix of different fruits). I love the variety.

4. Sweets. There is this awesome chocolate covered coconut cookie here that rivals the Girl Scout Caramel Delight. Plus, it is like twenty times less expensive. And this little store right by my apartment sells some good chocolate (other than that, the store bought, wrapped chocolate bars kind of suck).

5. Gelato. The Italian gelato sold here is the Baskin Robbins of the States. The Selva Negra (Black Sin) is a vice.

6. Fruits and Vegetables. They are the best in the world. Everything comes directly from the campos and it is very easy to find organic products without pesticides and crap like that. And everything has such a good, ripeness to it. I just ate the best grapefruit that I have ever had.

7. Variety of Cheese (except for cottage and string). Man, the queso fresco compliments everything. And the fresh goat cheese, too.

8. Freshness of Bread Products. There is a chain here called Castaño that is practically on every darn block and they turn out fresh bread and pastries hourly. You know you are close because you can smell it before even seeing the sign.

9. The Providencia Market. Providencia is the neighborhood where I live and I live about two blocks from "the market" where all food products are sold (it is not a grocery store). There is a small stand that sells the best empanadas in Santiago (the shrimp and cheese one is the best). Plus, I swear there is a competition between all of the booth owners on who can sell the most pre-packaged salads. Because of this, the prices are super cheap (500 pesos- less than a dollar) for a good salad with a mixture of corn, lettuce, chicken or tuna, cheese, beets, peas, potatoes, or whatever else they happen to have on any given day.

Are you hungy yet? I am and I just ate.

posted by Rebecca @ 4/06/2004 02:22:00 PM