June 1, 2020
Due to travel restrictions, plans are only available with travel dates on or after
Due to travel restrictions, plans are only available with effective start dates on or after
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Santiago, the capital city of Chile, sits in a valley surrounded by the incredible, snow-capped mountains. The metropolis is home to half the population of Chile, making it an vibrant and busy cultural center.
“There’s something inherently captivating about Santiago, be it the otherworldly feeling lent by the omnipresent Andes, the kind and beautiful locals, or the abundance of visual art and culture squeezed into the city,” writes The New Wine Review.
As the home of multiple UNESCO World sites, including the Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso and Sewell Mining Town, Santiago is full of history. Nightlife is also a huge part of life in Chile, and you will find it is normal to be seated for dinner with friends at 10 p.m., and to just be starting to party at 12 a.m.
Food in Santiago represents the city’s love of life, fun, and rich cultural heritage. Santiago’s selection of food and wine is on par with the best of the world’s most well-known gastronomic cities. Food options for every budget abound, ranging from street food classics, to renowned fine dining establishments.
“Meals in Chile tend to be primarily influenced by a combination of Spanish and indigenous cuisine, but since the 19th century, a wider range of immigrants began to arrive,” writes The Flavor Vortex. “This resulted in Chile adopting sausages from Germany and pasta from Italy, among other things.”
Abundant fruits and vegetables are grown in Chile. Potatoes, maize, beans and pumpkin are part of many meals. Seafood is popular, due to Chile’s long coastline, and a variety of meats are also used in cooking. While Chilean food is flavorful, it isn’t considered spicy. Though, many dishes include Aji verde, a type of green chili, in moderation.
No list about good food in Santiago would be complete without mentioning empanadas! These savory hand-held, turnovers are filled with meat, seafood or cheese, then baked or fried — the perfect street food. Try “empanada de pino,” a traditional empanada stuffed with ground beef, onions, and olives.
Chilean vineyards produce some of the highest quality wines in the world. The country’s geography and climate are perfect for growing grapes for wine. Chile is narrow, so, much of the country benefits from the cooling effects of the Pacific, keeping temperatures not too hot, and not too cold. The soil is austere — rocky, volcanic, sandy — perfect for controlling grape vine yields. If the ground is too fertile, the vines will be too prolific, which can soil flavor.
When you’re in Santiago, you’ll have plenty of wine bars to choose that are both chic and welcoming. Baco, located on Avenue Nueva de Lyon, has a selection of over 200 bottles, with 25 rotating by-the-glass selections that highlight small, niche producers.
Just a short stroll from Baco is Les Dix Vins.“The bar’s diverse wine selection (400+ bins) is split equally between Chile and the ‘rest of the world’ (with France claiming pole position),” writes Decanter.
In addition to wine, sweet Alfjores are another must-try decadence. These dainty, shortbread cookie sandwiches, with dulce de leche at their center, are the perfect dessert or snack. Quality vanilla extract and butter flavor the cookies; egg yolk lends richness and cornstarch makes the texture of Alfjores perfectly soft.
Similar to caramel but pleasantly much creamier, the dulce de leche at the center of Alfjores is made by patiently simmering milk and sugar together for hours. For incredible Alfajores, head to Dulcería Las Palmas , a small bakery near the intersection of Avenues Tobalaba and Apoquindo.
This rustic comfort food is a Chilean classic. Pastel de choclo, or corn pie, is prepared by grinding sweetcorn into a paste seasoned with ground basil, and baked with milk and lard. The corn base and top is filled with minced beef or chicken, onions, olives, raisins, and hard-boiled eggs. The result is a complementary mix of sweet and salty. Galindo, a cozy bar and grill at the intersection of Constitucion and Dardignac, serves up some great Pastel de choclo.
Served as an appetizer, this fresh, raw seafood dish, cured with lemon and lime juice and seasoned with cilantro, garlic, and chili, originated in Peru but is loved in Chile. Of course, Chileans have their own approach to preparing this classic, which is often served with halibut or Patagonian toothfish. Head to Ocean Pacific’s on Avenue Padre Hurtado for quality ceviche and other seafood dishes.
Before you plan your next foodie excursion to Santiago, consider purchasing travel insurance to protect your trip. You should know that healthcare facilities abroad may not accept your domestic health insurance. An Allianz Travel Insurance plan with Emergency Medical benefits can help provide reimbursement in the event of a covered medical emergency while traveling. Certain plans also offer benefits that can reimburse certain non-refundable expenses if your trip is cancelled or delayed for a covered reason.
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