Aneya: My Take on the Food

So people who know me know I'm no foodie. My idea of a gourmet meal is a Lean Cuisine or a frozen pizza. But that doesn't mean I don't like good food, or that I can't recognize it. I lived in the South of France for many years, so I know what good Mediterranean cuisine tastes like. I also grew up with a Sri Lankan father, so I know a good, spicy curry when I see one. Not to mention I practically lived in restaurants all my life (whether it be in New York or Las Vegas or LA) and I can tell you what a good steak tastes like. In any case, I have a solid opinion when it comes to food, but I'm also up for just about anything, and I had no idea what to expect in Chile.

Well. The food here is....it's really quite bland, actually. For some reason I was expecting lots of spices, an almost Mexican flare. Boy, was I wrong. Our first night here I had spaghetti bolognese (I know, hardly a Chilean dish) but it came with this big hunk of rock hard meat in it, I couldn't even cut it! Hardly appetizing. Salads come without any dressing, crackers have no salt, there is just NO flavoring whatsoever, on anything. Even the quesillo, the Chilean cheese, it just tastes like...nothing. Sort of like mozzarella, but with less flavor.

Now, the produce is amazing, as Lauren said. Great, fresh fruit, fresh fruit juices, great drinks, overall. The wine is cheap and really flavorful, the beer is tasty, pisco sours and all the drinks that spaun from them are delicious. The bread here is also very fresh and yummy (as are empanadas, the cheese filled pastry pictured above. They are just delicioso!) But everything else just feels like it's lacking in some essential ingredient.

There are a plethora of Chinese restaurants lining the streets here (whereas we've only seen one Indian place) so we decided to try one out one night. It was the most bland Chinese food I've ever experienced. Even the soy sauce tasted weird. No me gusta.

Also, ordering here is very tricky. One day I ordered a turkey pita and they brought me ham on toast. Que? It's even more difficult for Lauren, the vegetarian. The other day she ordered vegetable soup and found a hunk of meat floating in it. Now that's a nasty surprise!

In any case, I'm sure we'll get used to all of this, in due time. In the meantime, does anyone want to send me some curry?