This morning Marco dropped us in the centre of Santiago with Valentina, for our tour of the city. First stop was the Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded on all four sides by large, imposing buildings. In one corner, there’s a statue of Pedro de Valdiva, the first governor of Chile during the Spanish rule.
Moving along, we also saw the justice ministry and the presidential palace, which was getting ready for a charity concert. Nearby, there was a statue of Salvador Allende, the first socialist president in South America, who was ousted in a coup led by Augusto Pinochet.
We’d started quite early, and all around us there were smartly dressed people scurrying off to work. It’s been a long time since I saw so many business suits all in one place!
Next we visited San Francisco church, the oldest building in Santiago. Unlike other Spanish buildings, it has survived the numerous earthquakes, but then it was built on top of an Inca building.
After a quick climb up Santa Lucia hill, we then found Marco again and zipped North to ride the funicular up San Cristóbal hill, where there are great views across the entire city. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else up there, unless you’re into expensive cheap souvenirs, so we walked across to the other side and came down by cable car.
And that was the end of our city tour, but not the end of our day. We drove to the Northern outskirts of the city, nestling in the foothills of the Andes, for our Chilean cookery class with Roberto and Bruno.
Having been suitably aproned, we started with a Pisco Sour. Apparently, Chilean Pisco isn’t the same as Peruvian Pisco, but after three measures of 48% alcohol spirit, who cares!
Next we moved on to an appetizer, which may be called Freire. We chopped tomatoes, coriander, chillies and onion and mixed them in a bowl with oil, salt and lemon. We spread a layer of the vegetables onto a roll and ate it. Delicious!
Pastel de Choclo, or corn cake, came next. We filled a little dish with mince beef, chicken, raisins, black olives and hard boiled eggs. We then topped this with a mashed sweetcorn and basil mix that had been cooked for three hours and popped it in the oven. I’ve no idea how long it cooked for, not just because of the Pisco but because we went outside to a table set for three in the sunshine. Poor old Bruno had to stay inside and mind the oven!
We were served empanadas, a bit like Cornish Pasties but tastier, along with a rather splendid 2014 Val Divieso Gran Reserva Shiraz. Roberto had made them this morning.
Bruno then brought out our cooked Pastel de Choclo, which was also delicious.
Our main course sounded like Chane Messala, but I have no idea of the spelling. This consisted of minced beef and mashed potato. It was served with another red wine, a Cousiňo-Macul Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon. Not quite as good, but very palatable.
The dessert was Leche Assada, or baked milk. It’s a bit like crème caramel without the caramel.
Bruno then joined us for our digestifs, the first being made with lúcuma, a South American fruit, which slipped down nicely. The second tasted like grappa or aviation fuel and I gave the third a miss.
During the meal we found out about Roberto and Bruno. As well as this cookery activity, which is fairly new for him, Roberto has a shop selling costumes; Halloween is coming up so the shop is busy at the moment. He has a 16 year old daughter who is training to represent Chile at Taekwondo in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Bruno has lived in various places around the world and it was very easy to swap notes with him.
And then the doorbell rang! It was Marco come to take us back to the hotel before his Peugeot turned into a pumpkin.
We won’t be eating again today!
Steve and Diane on Tour 