If you come to Chile for the Santiago 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games and you don’t know which kind of food we have, don’t be scared! Our food is not as spicy as chili.
At the moment to think about Chilean food we can only think about a wide mixture of ingredients, that is thanks to our diverse geography, native costumes, and Spanish contribution, a mixture between modernity and tradition.

The first thing you should know is that our traditional dishes depend on the season of the year. During autumn and winter, we can enjoy warm meals, such as soups and broths. On the other hand, during spring and summer, Chilean food is characterized for being light and uses a lot of salads.

Our long coast from north to south brings us a wide variety of and quality of fishes, shellfishes, and algaes. It’s also possible to find brama australis, tuna, salmon, sea bass, among others.
In addition, Chile is a farmer country, so you’ll find and enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables in different cities, and also dairy products such as cheese, milk, yogurt, and meat.
Below, we recommend you 10 traditional Chilean dishes:

1. Cazuela (a traditional soup that contains meat, chicken, potatoes or pork, pumpkin, among others)
2. Pastel de choclo (sweet corn pudding with a beef, or chicken fill, along with eggs, onions, and others)
3. Humitas (grounded corn with seasoning, steamed in their own leaves)
4. Caldillo de congrio (fish soup made with conger eel, onions, garlic, carrots, among others) 
5. Curanto (chilean technique of cooking, in which you mesh chicken, pork, sausages, seafood (clams, mussels, giant barnacles), chapaleles potato dumplings, potatoes, and various vegetables)
6. Carbonada (chilean soup that may contain meat, potatoes, carrot, among others, chopped in cubes)
7. Empanada de pino (dough filled with beef, onions, eggs, and olives)
8. Porotos (soup with “porotos”, Chilean beans, with pumpkins, onions, garlick, sausages, and might contain others)
9. Machas a la parmesana (razor clams that are topped with salt, white wine, butter, and parmesan cheese)
10. Ensalada a la chilena (salad containing tomato, onion, coriander, and olive oil, and sometimes chili peppers)