Food, Food, and More Food By Rachel Sunseri

                 While trying to decide on a topic for this blog post, I thought about what I had done so far on my trip. We´ve visited beautiful areas surrounding Chile, I´ve bonded with an amazing family, and today was my first day working with the most precious kindergarten students. However, I´ve probably spend the majority of my time here in Chile at the dinner table. After about four days in Concepcion, I can already tell that this trip will not include much healthy eating. I´ve quickly discovered that Chile, much like the Louisiana, consists of a culture that takes great pride in their food. I´ve had multiple meals already that are fit for a Thanksgiving feast and they all have been so delicious. My mother here is an amazing cook. She makes meals out of foods that, in the United States, I am not usually fond of and they are some of the greatest things I have ever eaten. Gabi, my sister here, and I often help her out in the kitchen, so I´m hoping to pick up some cooking skills over the next few weeks as well!

Each morning starts off with a different delicious breakfast. My favorite so far has consisted of one of my staple foods, bread. We have fresh bread every morning with all different types of toppings: cream cheese, homemade jelly, turkey, avocado, and manjar (a substance that looks sort of like Caramel and is found in tons of Chilean desserts!). My favorite combo is cream cheese, “palta” (which is avocado), and turkey. The avocado here is amazing, my family here already knows that I am obsessed with it!

A few hours later, and before I´m even remotely hungry again, its time for lunch. There´s always a meat (chicken, beef, duck…yes. Duck.) and then multiple side dishes. We´ve had various salads, potato dishes, casserole type dishes, squash stuffed with rice and vegetables, and many more. And of course, there is always bread. Yesterday I experienced my first bit of South American seafood: fresh salmon with a creamy shrimp sauce and rice. It was to die for!

Next in the day is “once”, which is sort of like snack time. My family typically has bread with toppings (similar to breakfast) or different types of small desserts. Lots of manjar is often present when we have once! Coffee or tea is served with it as well. Below is a meal that I helped to prepare for once a couple of days ago. They are called “calzones rotos,” which translates to broken underwear, which I found hilarious. They are prepared very similarly to beignets and my family and I discussed this, which led to a whole conversation about New Orleans style food compared to Chilean food.

Finally, dinner time, or “cena.” In my home, dinner is much lighter than lunch, but still very filling. Below is an example of a dinner we prepared a few nights ago. It was pizza with marinara sauce, cheese, mushrooms, onions, and corn. It was a unique twist on the traditional pizza we have in the United States, however, I could not bring myself to try a family favorite additional topping: mustard.

So Mom, if you´re reading this, no worries. I´m definitely being well fed! I’m really excited for the next three weeks, to see what types of adventures (and food) are in store for me at this amazing school and with this very loving family!