Eschew Chilean Cuisine

My dreams of an exciting culinary journey, fueled by the abundance of seafood and agriculture in Chile

was smashed like a surfer crashing against the rocks of Punto Lobos in Pichilemu.

Granted, the faboulous wine experience in Chile was fully realized.

The wines in this country are great, fueled by the

massive export in the last 20 years, international

wine expertise has taken the results of ideal growing conditions to great heights, Wine acreage in Chile is enormous and must be several times the size of the acreage inCalifornia. Only the great avocado groves challenge the size of the planted area.

Back to the food. We ate in simple local restaurants, both inland and at the shore.

The Chilean kitchen has avoided being influenced by any foreign cuisine. It relies primarily

on Cilantro and Oregano. The staples are onions, potatoes, beef and fish. No spices seem to find their way into the meals.

The fabolous seafood, apparent at the fish markets, including clams, mussels and abalone, when offered in a soup, lose their excitement in bland preparation, boosted only by lots of cilantro., My dream of a Cioppino, a la San Francisco style never materialized, although seafood seviche was ok.

Beef is served on a bed of onions, with fries and sometimes an egg on top.

The fish is fried or poached, cilantro and oregano heavily abundant, served with mashed potatoes or french fries.

The bread is an English muffin sized hockeypuck. Canned-like ham and a salty white cheese are the universal choice for sandwiches.

Only the one time when we were invited to dinner by a group of young women in Casablanca, was our meal graced with vegetables and salads. That experience was great, and the food was well prepared and enjoyable, although it reflected the local tradition.

One of the girls, Danielle, indicated she was studying English at the university and was now in a culinary school specializing in Italian food, a paradigm shift for her. Maybe there is a future for Chilean food.

In closing I need to mention coffee. Chilenians only drink instant, they are a Nescafe people. The stores do not carry ground coffee and there are no coffeemakers to buy in the appliance shops.

When it comes to eating and drinking in Chile, the geography is breathtaking.

I put this together to show what one of the main reasons was, for our shift of travel plans back to a cruise.

I was suffering from taste withdrawal. We still have 10 days of Chile after Puerto Montt.

It is the area of the great salmon farms.

The beautiful geography of the Lake Region will be the source of pleasure there.

Cheers, from on board the Infinity.