Our “Day in the Life” time was on a peninsula of Chiloé Island, in the town of Rilan. Here we visited a couple who opened their home to us. She is a wonderful cook, the homemade bread was delicious with honey butter! He is an amazing woodcarver and fisherman. They both work a huge garden!
We all helped prep our meal. It’s a traditional meal here called a “curanto”. This stew consists of shellfish, meat, potatoes and vegetables all cooked within one pot. We created small balls of cooked mashed potatoes and grated raw potatoes with a bit of pork within. Also balls of mashed potatoes and flour. These golf-ball sized balls were each wrapped in plastic wrap. I diced onion, red pepper and garlic which was sautéed in a huge pot. From there, other food items were added per layer: mussels, chicken legs, pork pieces, those wrapped potato balls, and sausages with plant leaves in-between each layer of food. The pot lid was held down with rocks as the steam cooked the food for at least an hour. Here are some of the layers within the pot.
While the meal cooked, we walked in the garden, saw the wood carved pieces related to the island’s mythology and played “rayuela” which is similar to horseshoes or bocce. Instead one throws a metal disc into a sand box that has a string across the center. Closest disc wins. We had a winner!
After dinner which was a delicious meal, music and dancing … all great fun and perfect opportunity to spend time with this couple. On our return, we had a boat ride to see birds and the houses on stilts. Very interesting how people build their home on stilts and continue to extend their construction into the bay. We did visit one such home.
Other info I learned: 324 varieties of potatoes. Sixteen of 80 churches on this island are UNESCO sites. Last earthquake was in 2010.
Next, the reason I am on this trip, besides Easter Island, is to see Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park! Give me a few days and I’ll be back.
