Everyday life in Chile
What is life like in Chile? What is different from us?
Family ties are often very strong. Young people also tell their parents in detail about their day. At the weekend there is often a barbecue together. Punctuality is not what you take very seriously. You usually get to an appointment at least 15 minutes later…
Are you buying something? Then you pay with pesos. The sums can get higher, because 1 euro is about 680 pesos. If you buy something for 7,000 pesos, the value is only about 10 euros. People like to go to the market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables.
Life in the city and in the country
90 percent of all Chileans live in the city. A third of all Chileans live in the capital Santiago. In rural areas, the supply is much worse, there is hardly any work and education opportunities there are also much worse. So many Chileans moved to the cities.
Most people in Chile are fine. Extreme poverty is rare. Nevertheless: The distribution of income in Chile is quite uneven. In addition to wealthy families with servants, there are also families who live in huts in remote villages or who live in slums.
Some of these neighborhoods were created when people who came to the city from the countryside simply took and occupied uninhabited land, for example on sewers or motorway bridges. Over the course of many years, stronger houses are built from cardboard huts.
Eating in Chile
What do the Chileans like?
What do you eat in Chile? Corn and potatoes are staple foods in Chile that the natives ate. The Spaniards brought wheat, which is also often used today. Meat is also part of a real Chilean meal. People like to grill together at an asado, as it is called here. The long coast also provides repeated supplies of fish. Bread or marraquetas are served with many dishes. These are bread rolls made from wheat flour.
Typically Latin America
Food that is typical of all of Latin America is also popular here: empanadas, for example, are filled dumplings. Here, humitas are bags made from corn leaves in which a corn porridge cooks. Stews are also popular. A well-known stew in Chile is cazuela. Chicken or beef, potatoes, corn on the cob and pumpkin as well as other vegetables such as green beans or rice are part of it. Usually you eat the broth first and then the solid ingredients.
Morning, noon, evening and once?
In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, people in Chile also have a snack in the late afternoon or early evening. This is called tomar once. That literally means “to take elf”. This snack is taken between 5 and 9 p.m. and there is always tea (or coffee), bread or cake. The actual dinner then takes place very late, for example around 10 p.m. Or you can leave it out completely, that also happens.
German cake
The German immigrants also brought their recipes with them from home and thus influenced Chilean cuisine. This is how you get cake in bakeries – it’s called just like ours and it’s pronounced that way. Often the fruit cake, especially apple cake, but also, for example, streusel cake. Our Berliners (which are called pancakes in Berlin) are also available here as Berlinesas.
Hot dog in Chilean
Hot dogs are also known here, but they are called Completo in Chile and are a little different from ours. The sausage in the bread is accompanied by avocado mousse, sauerkraut (Chucrú) and a chili paste.
Cochayuyo
Behind this name is a popular Chilean side dish. They are brown algae that, like vegetables, are eaten with meat or processed in a salad.
Pastel de Choclo
People like this dish: pastel de choclo, a kind of pate made from corn. A corn dough is made for this, which is poured over a meat filling. The whole thing is then baked in the oven. The filling is called pino and is also used for empanadas.
Sopaipilla
This is the name of small flatbreads baked in oil. We would call them a buffer. But they are made from wheat flour or, in Chile, from pumpkin. There is also a sauce. In addition to mustard, the pebre sauce (made from onions, tomatoes and garlic) or, as a sweet variant, the chancaca sauce (made from sugar cane juice and with orange peel) are typical for Chile. Would you like to make sopaipillas yourself?