The bread and butter (FINAL ENTRY!)

24 August 2012

In trying to find an appropriate way to close out this blog, I selected a topic pleasing to me, to readers, and to the internet in general - food! (with pictures)

What exactly I am closing with is the bread basket of Chile. Literally, the basket of breadstuffs that comes out at some point at a meal - typicaly after the food has been ordered - accompanied by at least one sauce and sometimes butter, sometimes oil.

Rewinding a second, bread is something very dear to my heart. If it is not making up the bookends of my daily sandwich, I'll still usually find a way to include it in my consumption that day. I make my own bread in a breadmaker. Bread was arguably what I missed most living in Thailand, and what I cherished most living in Paris. Who knew that this June I was coming to the country that consumed more bread per capita than almost anywhere else in the world?

Now there is plenty of lousy bread here, don't get me wrong. In fact, I would venture to say the majority is bland white bread with little nutritional benefit or taste. Only upscale supermarkets stock a selection of whole grain options, and even bakeries disappoint. But fortunately, this isn't the bread I'm talking about.

Instead, this blog is devoted to the bread served in restaurants. Traveling to different parts of the country and eating out for dinner, I've experienced plenty of meals out. What impresses me is the quality, freshness, and diversity of the breads proffered (as well as the sauces). Typically I prefer to wait to crack into a basket of bread until I've started my meal - as they do in France - but when that Chilean bread comes out crispy and warm it is mighty hard - and I dare say foolish - to resist.

I will now take you on a tour of some of the fine breadstuffs I have encountered while in Chile.

Buen provecho!

So here's the basic. Cute, tasty rolls warm to the touch with a soft interior but crunch exterior, making for a perfect landing spot for the salsa the restaurant provided. Here butter was provided as well.

At this Valparaiso restaurant famous for its "chorrillana", bread takes a backseat (as you can see). In a rare instance, bread is sliced - I think large rolls were used - and a spicy paste was provided. Both were no-no's in my book, but the steaming pile of french fries, eggs, onions, and beef was more than enough.

Class at this upscale eatery. Only one (or maybe I ate a second) small roll was provided, but they were delicious, covered in butter, then served alongside a creamy sauce with a nice little kick to it.

Eating again in Valparaiso, here I zoomed in so you could look closely. No special sauce - but both butter and oil is provided. The key is that these little guys are not really bread, but something between crackers and rolls, with herbs baked into them. Amazing on their own, enhanced by butter, and heaven when dipped in some olive oil.

Ah yes, perhaps my favorite - and one of the only restaurants I have eaten at multiple times (Del Beto). So you have butter and the oil/vinegar mix, as well as an excellent homemade salsa that - following Chileans' palate - has negligible spiciness to it, though clearly you could open the jalapeno if you wanted some. But I love the bread basket, because it includes not only tender, warm dinner rolls, but the classic squash-flour fried patties of Chile - "sopapillas"

My last meal in Pucon stood out not for the bread, but for its accompaniments. Excellent butter, olive oil, and seasoned eggplants swimming in olive oil that was sort of like a paste. But then on the right side there was a tri-color medley: herbs of provence-esque mix, sea salt, and merken, the famous spice of the indigenous southern Chileans.

Points given here for creativity and variety. At the vegetarian Quinoa restaurant, they created a homemade spread that was a bit like hummus, then instead of a bread basket a little hemp pouch that was a grab bag of wholesome goodness, like wafers, bread sticks, and multigrain rolls.

I hope this entry, and the blog in general, was as gratifying and satiating to read as it was to write. Again, this will be my last post for this blog, but if time and workload permits, I intend to continue blogging when back in the States. If you'd like to keep following along with my writing, let me know and I'll share!