Local Food

Food and Drink in Chile

The normal Chile diet includes rice, potatoes, meat and bread. In central Chile vegetables are abundant and as a general rule the size of the portions increases the further south you travel. There is plenty of fish and seafood available in Chile with the country being the world’s second largest producer of salmon amongst other farmed sea products including scallops, oysters, trout, mussels and turbot. Local fish includes sea bass, conger eel, swordfish, flounder and yellow fin tuna. Visitors should be cautious of raw shellfish due to frequent outbreaks of red tides.

National specialities include empanada (a combination of meat with onions, eggs, raisins and olives inside pastry), cazuela de ave (soup with rice, vegetables and chicken), bife a lo pobre (steak with French fries), padre (salsa) and strudel. Central Chile is a major tempered fruit producer so you will find an abundant variety of apples, oranges, grapes, watermelons and many other fruit.

National drinks include wine, pisco (brandy distilled from grapes after wine pressing), chicha (a sweet drink made from grapes), beer (popular brands include Kuntsman, Cristal and Escudo) and cola de mono (a chocolate and coffee based liqueur). The legal drinking age is 18 and it is illegal to dink in unlicensed public areas. It is customary to add 10% to the bill with some restaurants and bars automatically adding this.