1

Caroline Mendez

GPS 120

Dr. Usha Sanyal

28 November 2020

Chile: Looking into its roots

Located in the southwest of the South American continent, Chile occupies a long strip

of land making it the longest country on the planet with a coastline along the Pacific Ocean that

stretches for 4,300 km or 2,700 m. Chile borders Peru in the north, Bolivia in the northeast,

Argentina in the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west and south sides. “The territory of Chile

extends from the northern desert of the Atacama, the driest in the world, to the southern end of

South America, Cape Horn. Chile extends through three continents, South America, Antarctica,

and Oceania – Easter Island.”1Due to its place on earth, the history, and the things that Chile has

created, the most important thing for Chileans is the food. They have traditions, foods, and

products they specialize in and rich history with many stories. Chile can be described as a

country of constant change; this has affected the things their people do daily and the reason for

this essay. This paper focuses on how chile has changed from the 1900s until today and how its

food and products have influenced and helped shape the country Chile is today.

During the colonization times, Chile was influenced by the Spaniards to create and

expand to the world, it was recognized as one of the best places to stay and prosper in the world,

and through all the expansion to far away continents like Europe in 1851 the first Chilean

cookbook was created and published. According to Simon Collier and William Sater “from this

1
“The Geography of Chile.” Chile Culture, n.d. http://www.chileculture.org/about/.
 2

original combination [of different countries] stemmed everything that was later to give Chilean

cuisine its special character”2. This then shaped the vegetables and condiments they used to make

their food, one of the vegetables they are known for are the potatoes which almost all of their

dishes contain, they also started using and producing porotos or beans they can be black, white,

or red. Products like these have passed from generation to generation and included in their dishes

and have also being produced and exported from Chile to other countries since their discovery

and their fast production. Wine is another product for which Chile is recognized as much as Italy.

They have the best wines, and all are produced in Chile and exported to the world from there.

The grapes in Chile are abundant and almost every house with a big patio has its own grapes

vineyard. In the Colonial Foundations book, we learn one of the customs for which Chile is

known, their mealtimes. “An early lunch (almuerzo), a one o’clock dinner (comida), and an

evening supper (cena) not later than 6:30 pm. Refreshments were also taken at around 11:00 am

– las once.”3 One of the largest ethnic populations in Chile who have also shaped the food culture

in the country is the Mapuches. According to an article in Countries and their cultures “The

Mapuche are the indigenous inhabitants of South-Central Chile and the southern part of

Argentina. The term Mapuche refers to the various ethnicity groups with a shared and common

socioeconomic, linguistic, and religious structure.” The Mapuche covers 9% of the population

and their language does not receive support from the education sector of Chile.”4 The Mapuche

families have passed through their generations all their recipes, practices, and culture so their

families can keep sharing their history. In an article by Maija Väätämöinen and Maria Eugenia

Merino, “Food and food-related practices were a topic that many Mapuche referred to when they

2
Collier, Simon, and William F. Sater. “Colonial Foundations, 1540-1810.” Essay. In A History of Chile, 1808-1994,
25–27. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
3
Collier, Simon, and William F. Sater, Colonial Foundations, 27.
4
“Chileans,” 2009. https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic-of/Chileans.html.
 3

were invited to talk about their culture and life in Santiago; this simultaneously revealed their

relation to ‘others’ (Chileans) and their connectedness to their ancestral lands in the Araucania

region in the south.”5. The history and the rich culture Chile have has changed over the years but

the beginning of it was key to developing a great country.

Some of the events and hardships Chileans had to go through until today have been the

dictatorship by Pinochet, the money drop and the immigration over the years by families who

wanted to find a better place to live and migration from people from other countries whose

situation was not good. During the Pinochet dictatorship, the country suffered riots, high poverty,

and dispute between political parties. The dictatorship lasted 17 years but it will always be

remembered, the food culture during this time changed because there were not enough products

to feed the country. The migration from people of other countries to Chile like their neighboring

countries have also influenced Chile’s food culture, in an article by Tom Jaine, we learn that

“Argentine beef is imported, and its cuisine has come too, but sheep are reared in the south, and,

in the province of Chiloé, pigs have long been farmed, which may account for certain pork

recipes like Chancho a la Chilena, a casserole of pork and vegetables given spice by Salsa de ají

colorado (chili is ají, here and in Peru).”6 With this evidence, we learn how neighboring

countries have helped Chile have supported the history and the heritage Chile has created over

the years. A good question at this point would be what some of the Chilean dishes are and if they

are still relevant today and how the dishes and traditions have changed over the years. In an

interview made with Mr. Carlos Trujillo Pineda, a Chilean native, food lover and traditionalist,

5
Väätämöinen, Maija, and Maria Eugenia Merino. “Food as a Cultural Practice among the Mapuche in Santiago De
Chile.” Folklore. Taylor and Francis Online, October 1, 2018.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/figure/10.1080/0015587X.2018.1455302?scroll=top.
6
Jaine, Tom. "Chile." In the Oxford Companion to Food, edited by Tom Jaine. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Inc.,
2014. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/wingate.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com
%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Foupof%2Fchile%2F0%3FinstitutionId%3D3448
 4

he mentioned many traditional Chilean dishes for which Chile is recognized worldwide and his

favorite ones, some of them being el charquican, pebre, Chilean empanadas, hallullas or Chilean

bisques, and the favorite of everyone, el pastel de choclo or a corn pie, made with corn dough,

chicken, vegetables like red pepper, onions, basil, and spices salt, and cumin. Trujillo mentioned,

“without these spices and products el pastel de choclo, cannot be pastel de choclo”7. After

laughing and sharing more dishes and feeling connected to the stories and flavors, we started

talking about the way Chile has changed, how the new generations have been influenced by other

cultures one of them being the North. In the interview Trujillo talked about his opinion and the

change:

Chile’s traditions have been passed down to every generation, I was raised learning how

to cook, how my culture was developed, and how food took a big part of our life because

we always have an event that includes food [laughs]… Chileans are food lovers and that

is why we have a food system, things have changed of course because Chileans are

working more and there is no time to loose with food hours, our kids are learning new

things from the internet and other countries and that has affected the alimentation our

kids have… The country has also been influenced by immigrants, our food has changed

to please everyone’s taste, and that is good but we are creating a new culture and I know

it will take time to get used to it.8

The conversation with Mr. Trujillo also included how proud he is of his country, and how

proud hi is of all the things his ancestors build for him and his family, he also mentioned how

united families in Chile are which says a lot about a country who has gone through many events

and changes. Chile’s culture today is not the same as how it was when the Spanish conquered the
7
Trujillo Pineda, Carlos. Interviewed by Caroline Mendez. November 09, 2020. WhatsApp audio conversation.
8
Trujillo Pineda, Carlos. Interviewed by Caroline Mendez. November 09, 2020. WhatsApp audio conversation.
 5

coasts of Chile. Its people have their customs like the meal schedule in mind but the way the

country is working at the moment and how the world is changing have made them change the

way they share with families and produce their recognized products. The evidence in this paper

has guided us through a quick history lesson, including how their products were developed and

how their traditions have changed to create new ones. Not only we learned a few of their famous

dishes but we also learned the countries that have influenced Chile and how they have survived

all the obstacles. The food culture in Chile have made them stronger over the years even when

they had a weak government and wars that are still being fought, food has always been there to

make their hearts full and happy. Overall, Chile’s food culture has not only been present since

the construction of the country but will prevail through the years with the help of the future

generations and the help of the people from other countries who will create new traditions and

flavors to this beautiful country.

Bibliography

“Chileans,” 2009. https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic

of/Chileans.html.
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Collier, Simon, and William F. Sater. “Colonial Foundations, 1540-1810.” Essay. In A History

of Chile, 1808-1994, 25–27. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press,

1998.

Jaine, Tom. “Chile: The Oxford Companion to Food - Credo Reference.” Chile | The Oxford

Companion to Food - Credo Reference, 2014.

https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/oupof/chile/0.

“The Geography of Chile.” Chile Culture, n.d. http://www.chileculture.org/about/.

Trujillo Pineda, Carlos. Interviewed by Caroline Mendez. WhatsApp audio conversation.

November 09, 2020.

Väätämöinen, Maija, and Maria Eugenia Merino. “Food as a Cultural Practice among the

Mapuche in Santiago De Chile.” Folklore. Taylor and Francis Online, October 1, 2018.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/figure/10.1080/0015587X.2018.1455302?scroll=top.