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Food & Cultural Identity The Case of Chilean Foodways

Florencia Sepúlveda CamposanoRoyal College of Art

Global Innovation Designword count: 8,870

2016

To my family, for teaching me the importance of eating together.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Cooking & Humanity: We Cook, Therefore We Are

The Case of Chilean Foodways: Cooking Paradoxes

The Origins of Chilean Cuisine: Potatoes, Maize & Culinary Syncretism

Foodstuffs, Dishes & Key Flavours

Culinary Customs, Structure & Inequality

Contemporary Foodways in Chile: Peasant Food Meets Aspirational Cuisine

Food at Home: Traditions & the “Daily Bread”

Eating out: From traditional Picadas to Fine Dining

Conclusion

List of References

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6 | Food & Cultural Identity: The Case of Chilean Foodways

List of Illustrations

Fig. 1 - The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci, 1494 - 1498). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)#/media/

File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpgFig. 2 - Mapuche women grinding wheat grains (1820). Retrieved from: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-98984.html

Fig. 3 - A Map of Chili, Patagonia. Part of La Plata (Hermann moll, 1707). Available at: http://www.educarchile.cl/ech/pro/app/detalle?id=140920

Fig. 4 - Curanto en hoyo (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.sapapanatravel.com/image/42872/curanto1chiloe.JPG

Fig. 5 - Cazuela (n.d). Retrieved from: http://libroderecetas.com/files/recetas/cazuela-chilena.jpg

Fig. 6 - Porotos grandados (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.midiariodecocina.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Porotos-granados09.jpg

Fig. 7 -Spanish women drinking mate tea (1713). . Retrieved from: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-71933.html

Fig. 8 - Aristocratic lunch (circa 1900). Retrieved from: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-68297.html

Fig. 9 - Lunch at the Mapocho river (circa 1900). Retrieved from: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-68300.html

Fig. 10 - Ramada (n.d). Retrieved From: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-81035.html

Fig. 11 - Aristocratic banquet (circa 1900). Retrieved from: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-68296.htmlFig. 12 - Mercado Central, Santiago (1915). Retrieved from: http://www.museohistoriconacional.cl/618/articles-9431_imagen_portada.jpgFig. 13 - Example of a typical breakfast (n.d.). Retrieved from:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KMtpDW5urRQ/S9WL8fGyqOI/AAAAAAAAABU/UJMBQ558eE8/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG

List of Illustrations| 7

Fig. 14 - Marraqueta bread (2016). Author’s own.

Fig. 15 - Example of family enjoying Once (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://famsterdamlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chile-christmas-once.jpg

Fig. 16 - Charquicán with fried egg (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.chilehalal.com/index.php/2016/04/recipes/22/el-charquican-una-especialidad-mapuche/

Fig. 17 - Humitas (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://franisinthekitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/humitas-cerradas.jpg

Fig. 18 - Food cart selling sopaipillas and empanadas (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://criticasgastronomicas.cl/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/carrito-sopaipillas.jpg

Fig. 19 - Completo (n.d). Retrieved from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Completo_italiano.jpg

Fig. 20 - Street food (n.d). Retrieved from: https://bkpk.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Ricas-sopaipillas.jpg

Fig. 22 - La Piojera (n.d). Retrieved from: https://chiinchile.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dscn8272.jpg

Fig. 23 - Meal at El Hoyo (n.d). Retrieved from: http://bitacorademichile.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/restaurant-el-hoyo.html

Fig. 24 - sushi with merquén (n.d). Retrieved from:

http://static.wixstatic.com/media/833f7c_29968e91ca33232734a44fe24f88f094.jpg_srz_979_682_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

Fig. 25 - Quinoa and seafood dish by Chef Guillermo Rodríguez (n.d). Retrieved from:http://www.publimetro.cl/nota/vida/publimetro-super-chef-estos-son-los-platillos-tipicos-chilenos/oEpodj!Cbsl5xmXUI__3_W_02FjGg/


Introduction

‘Food is our common ground, a universal experience’.- James Beard

We eat. Like any other living creature, we need to eat. Apart from consuming water, eating is our most basic and essential need for existence. There is no way around it. However, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, for us human beings food has a much broader meaning than just survival.

Yes, the way we access, produce and consume food sets us apart from the rest of the animal world. We are the only animal that cooks, and some believe that this skill was the key for the survival and evolution of our ancestors. Cooking has allowed us to consume a wider variety of food, access more nutritional con-tent, and reduce the amount of effort and time spent on chewing (Jones, 2007). Furthermore, cooking, and developing the tools for it, might have been the evo-

lutionary jump that separated us from the primates, and the first source of empirical knowledge.

We need food to thrive and survive, although our tastes and food choices have never been made based solely on nutrition nor just on what is available, in fact, these elements only play a small part (Fox, 2003). Eating is communion, is family, is caring and is tradi-tion. Food has been at the centre of the stage in the construction of society and culture. Our foodways, the way we produce, prepare, and consume food, are built from a series of symbols of what we believe in, and where we belong. They express our individual and collective identities, and are the language and narrative of our folklore; they are the evidence of our history. Those dishes that our cultures choose to eat

have made it this far by going through a lengthy and complicated process of evolution, adaptation and se-lection. It is not at random and it did not happen just through convenience. Our flavours are a reflection of our own selves.

The following paper aims to address this very top-ic by reflecting on how, and by which mechanisms, might cultural identities be constructed, expressed, and understood through foodways. This research question will be ap-proached, firstly, by understanding how cooking has been a key activity for our development as a species and for the construction of societies. Secondly, it will look at the case of Chilean foodways, from the origins of its culinary culture and folklore, born from colonisation and syncretism, and then will look at

Introduction | 9

them in the present day. By doing so, we will be able to recognise and reflect on the different aspects and tints of Chilean culture and identity, such as com-mensality, classism, patriarchy, religion, and ingenuity, amongst others.

As a part of my journey as a Global Innovation Design student, I have had the chance to live in three different countries this past year: England (London), United States (New York), and Japan (Tokyo), as well as being part of a cohort that includes people from six different countries, with whom I’ve lived during this period. Needless to say, I have been exposed to a number of very rich and very different cultures, and food, and the spectacle surrounding it, has been one of the main lenses from which I’ve been able to

approach and experience them. However, by being away from my home country, Chile, I’ve had also the chance to reflect on our own foodways, tradi-tions, and culture. Those things that were part of my everyday life and the norm: those things taken for granted. For this reason, in the development of this dissertation, I’ve aimed to learn and understand better my own culture by looking at it from its very own foodways. Food, from gardening, to cooking, and of course eating, is one of my biggest passions, and an irreplaceable language by which I express myself, and it just seemed necessary for me to pursue this topic by looking inwards, in order to reflect and understand its true meaning better, as well as myself and my culture.

My experience in other countries has been essential for the development of this dissertation, even though it is not explicit as there are no direct comparisons between them. However, without having the chance to experience these other varied culinary cultures and their contrasts, I would have not been able to under-stand the subtleties of my own.


I. Cooking & Humanity:

We Cook, Therefore We Are

Eating, as such and essential need for living creatures, has driven our existence. Gaining the ability to cook, first by learning how to control fire, made it easier and safer for our ancestors to chew and digest meat and some vegetables. Then, by cooking with hot water, thanks to the invention of tools such as wood and clay recipients, they were able to consume foods like legumes and grains that were indigestible, or sometimes even toxic. (Wrangham, 2009).

According to Wrangham (2009), cooking not only im-proved taste and increased the variety and nutritional value of our food, but it also changed the bodies, the brains, the use of time and the social lives of our spe-cies. As Fox (2003) establishes, more than a necessity, cooking is the symbol of humanity that sets us apart

from the rest of nature. Claude Lévi-Strauss, in the volume The Raw and the Cooked (1969), described how several tribes and cultures in South America con-sidered and expressed this idea, through their folklore and mythologies. Strauss recognized cooking as the transformation from raw nature, to cooked culture, both in a literal and a symbolic way.

We thus begin to understand the truly essential place occupied by cooking in native thought: not only does cooking mark the transition from nature to culture; but through it and by means of it, the human state can be defined with all its attributes, even those that, like mor-tality, might seem the most unquestionably the most natural (Lévi-Strauss, 1969, p. 164)

According to the cooking hypothesis presented by Wrangham (2009), humans are genetically adapted to eating cooked food. The Gissen Raw Food Study (Koebnick, Hoffmann, Strassner, & Leitzmann, 1999) showed that people who eat 70% to 100% of their diet raw, experienced a high loss of their BMI (body mass index), and lose on average between 10 and 12 kgs when shifting to an uncooked diet. A third of them showed chronic energy deficiencies, and around 50% of the women completely ceased to menstruate, while 10% suffered irregular menstrual cycles that left them probably unable to conceive. It’s unlikely that these effects are caused by the low or null meat intake of their diet, considering that among people who live on cooked diets, there is no difference in body weight be-tween vegetarians and meat eaters (Wrangham, 2009).

Cooking & Humanity: We Cook, Therefore We Are | 11

The evolutionary benefit of adapting to cooked food is increased energy efficiency, as our weak jaws, small teeth and guts fit with the high caloric density, low fibre content, and high digestibility of cooked food. Hence, our digestive system is able to process food and extract its energy just as well as our ancestors, but at a lower cost (Wrangham, 2009).

Furthermore, authors like Cordón (1999) argue that, since cooking required the creation and development of several tools, artefacts and techniques, it would have been the technical and evolutionary jump that allowed the human to differentiate themselves from primates. He also claims that culinary activity, in the form of rec-ipes transmitted by oral tradition, was the source of the first collection and exchange of empirical knowledge.

But, what is cooking? Cooking is defined by Oxford Dictionaries (n.d.) as ‘the practice or skill of prepar-ing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingre-dients’. However, as Fischler (1995) puts it, we can understand cooking in a deeper and broader sense:

The representations, beliefs and practices associated to it, and shared by individuals that belong to a culture or to a group within that culture. Each culture possesses a specific cuisine that involves classifications, particu-lar taxonomies, and a complex set of rules regarding preparation and combinations, as well as, harvest, production, and consumption of food (p. 34).

Furthermore, as an effect of migration, cultures developed dishes that were a direct result of the confrontation between different alimentary styles; these particular preparations and flavours, born from syncretism, become objects of collective identity that Calvo (as cited by Mata, 2008) defined as plat-totem (a totem dish). Following this argument, just as living creatures evolve, the dishes, flavours, and techniques that remain in a culture are the result of a process of natural selection and evolution, of which only the most suited for that specific culture remain. This suitability is not limited to the nutritional and conve-nience arena, but instead they are strongly driven by symbolism. Our foodways are a powerful tool for the expression of our beliefs, our social stratifications, and our stereotypes.


Beyond its biological and genetic impact, the shift towards a cooked diet has had strong sociological implications on our species. Since eating and cooking are usually group activities, ‘our foodways become a focus of symbolic activity about sociality and about our own place in society’ (Fox, 2003, p. 1). Food-ways are defined as ‘the cultural, social, religious, and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food. Foodways often refers to the intersection of food in culture, traditions, and history’ (Oxford English Dictionary, n.d.).

For Michael Owen Jones (2007), particular foodstuffs, as well as the activities of procuring, preparing and consuming food, are charged with symbolism reflect-ing our identities, beliefs, and attitudes. Individuals

have multiple and dynamic identities, driven by eth-nicity, region, gender and class, among other factors; these aren’t static, but prone to change over time. Furthermore, he states that our foodways reproduce and construct these identities.

Identity is not innate, but is the result of a series of construction processes. Defined by Larraín, ‘identity refers as a quality or set of qualities by which a per-son or a group of people see themselves intimately connected’ (2001, p. 23). According to Larraín (2001), there are three aspects that are necessary when speaking about identity. Firstly, the existence of certain group of loyalties and characteristics, know as cultural identities, in which individuals auto-recognize themselves. Secondly, material elements, such as our own bodies and other

possessions that give the individual a sense of belonging. And thirdly, the existence of others, whose opinions about ourselves we interiorise and also those from whom we want to differentiate ourselves. Therefore, our identities are influenced and can change as a result of our social expectations, and they are not simply formed by our past and context, but also represent the aspira-tions of who we want to be.

Since everyone has to eat, what we choose to eat becomes a powerful tool of expression of who we are (Fox, 2003). Our food choices are strongly influenced by our collective and individual identities; the food we consume, the tools we use, who cooks, the language, quantities, locations, consumption patterns, and the rit-uals in which we choose to engage, are all full of sym-

Cooking & Humanity: We Cook, Therefore We Are | 13

bolisms that represent who we are, where we belong, and what we believe in. Hence, the narrative around our foodways has been key to the representation and construction of our collective and individual identities.

It is not only the particular foodstuffs or preparation methods that we choose, but as Mary Douglas states, ‘the meaning of a meal is found in a system of re-peated analogies. Each meal carries something of the meaning of the other meals; each meal is a structured social event which structures others in its own image’ (1972, p. 69). In this sense, food becomes a situation, full of symbolism and meaning about our humanity, and these situations are connected and affected by each other. We cannot just simply isolate these events.

Fig. 1 - ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci (1494-1498)


II. The Case of Chilean Foodways:

Cooking Paradoxes

Chilean cuisine finds its origins in three culinary traditions that, merged together, gave birth to what we know in Chile as cocina criolla (creole cuisine), or traditional Chilean cuisine. The first of these traditions is the indigenous substrate, mostly from the Mapuche1 influence, which includes native raw materials, such as potato, maize, beans, pumpkin, and chilli peppers; ingredients that remain the staples of local preparations until today. The second is the Spanish heritage that arrived with the first colonial settlements in the newly founded city of Santiago in 1541, which introduced a series of gastronomic

1 The Mapuches are ‘one of the most important native ethnic groups in the country, both for its social and demographic weight and its strong sense of cultural identity (Memoria Chilena; Biblio-teca Nacional de Chile).

customs, techniques, and tools. Furthermore, they brought with them some livestock and crops that were almost completely destroyed after the indige-nous revolt led by the cacique Michimalongo that same year. Tales about the event say that, thanks to the heroism of Inés Suárez, conqueror of Chile and founder of Santiago, two pigs, two chickens and two fistfuls of wheat were rescued from the attack (Pereira, 1977). This tale and these Hispanic food-stuffs are the founding cornerstones of the narrative and imagery surrounding our cuisine (Aguirre, 2009). The encounter between indigenous and Hispanic cu-linary cultures originated a mestizo cuisine, which was consolidated during the colonial period. Later on, by the end of the 19th century, the influence of French culture on the habits of the local elites resulted in the

adoption of new recipes and standards of etiquette from European cuisine (Pereira, 1977).

Foodstuffs, Dishes & Key Flavours

As in the rest of America, the Spanish settlers fo-cused their efforts on the cultivation of wheat and on developing the technology for bread making. Mean-while, their unwillingness or difficulties in assimilating and accepting Mapuche foods and products lead to hunger amongst the colonists, especially in the earlier years of the Conquest. However, over time both par-ties, Spaniards and indigenous people, started enjoy-ing and adapting to each other’s traditions, eventually leading to culinary syncretism (Aguirre, 2009).

The Origins of Chilean Cuisine: Potatoes, Maize & Culinary Syncretism

The Case of Chilean Foodways: Cooking Paradoxes| 15

The ‘Mapuche plant trilogy’ of maize, beans and po-tatoes was the basis of Spanish and indigenous diets alike, as well as pumpkin and quinoa, all of which by 1548 were being grown in the farms of Santiago. By the end of the 16th century, dishes made from these and other staples were eaten alongside meat and fish (Aguirre, 2009). Three kinds of bread; Spanish, cinder, and Chilean, were made by aboriginal women (ser-vants) and formed part of the daily diet of both Span-iards and natives (Pereira, 1977). Sweets and pastries from the Hispanic tradition were complemented with native fruits such as the murtilla, maqui, and lúcuma. Alcoholic beverages also had an important presence, and wine and chicha (alcohol made from grapes and apples) were the preferred drinks amongst Spaniards and indigenous people. In fact, in 1558 both group’s

Fig. 2 - Mapuche women grinding wheat grains (1820)


extreme enjoyment of alcohol led to the passing of a rather unsuccessful prohibition law (Aguirre, 2009).

Due to the geographic diversity of Chile, different flavours and foodstuffs generated three macro gastro-nomic zones: North, Centre, and South. In the north, the influences of indigenous cultures from the Andes highlands, such as the Aimaras and Atacameños, con-tributed rocoto chillis, maize, potatoes, pumpkin, and quinoa; for meat, camelids such as llamas and alpacas were the most common; from the traditions of fishing communities like the Changos, preparations based on shellfish and fish were also adopted.

The gastronomy of the centre contributed products from the land, such as maize, potatoes, and beans,

which are the staples for popular and traditional preparations like charquicán (jerky, pumpkin and potato stew), humitas (ground corn, onion, and lard dough wrapped and boiled in its husk), and porotos granados (bean and corn stew). This area was also the first to get Hispanic and European influences since it was where the first settlements were developed, and where the capital, Santiago, is located. Some other contri-butions from this region were the establishment of habits such as la once, inspired by the British high tea, and the use of wine strains from France.

It’s important to note that for the above-mentioned reasons, the staple dishes from this area are generally recognized as the most traditional Chilean dishes, to a larger degree than those from the north or south.

Fig. 3 - ‘A Map of Chili, Patagonia’ (1707)


Furthermore, this centralised focus expanded to the economic, political, and social aspects of the country, in that the other regions, further away from the capital, were neglected in favour of the Centre (Ivanovic, 2004). The saying ‘Santiago no es Chile’ (‘Santiago is not Chile’) is commonly used to remind people, especially those from the Metropolitan Region, about the several issues that affect the rest of the country. This phenomenon remains just as controversial today as it was in the early years of the Colony.

The south had a strong Mapuche influence, with a cuisine based on corn, merquén (smoked chilli pepper and cilantro seeds), several kinds of potatoes, pumpkin, and chicken. It also had contributions from the Chiloé islands, where seafood dishes are still the staples today,

Fig. 5 - Cazuela

Fig. 4 - Curanto en hoyo

Fig. 6 - Porotos grandados


including curanto (meat, seafood and potatoes stew made inside a hole in the ground), and shellfish empanadas (pas-ties). Furthermore, since the 19th century German tradi-tions had a lot of influence in some areas of the south, and are known today for their local take on kuchens and strudels made from national fruits, such as murtilla.

Even though these three areas of Chilean geography have their own characteristic dishes and flavours, they are all connected through the creole tradition and by many key preparations, mostly stews and casseroles based on corn and potatoes, and seasonings such as smoked paprika, merquén and cumin, which still represent the traditional flavours of Chilean food today. These are the flavours of our food folklore.

Culinary Customs, Structure & Inequality

The menu of the conqueror was varied, however, it tended to maintain a similar structure from day to day. The meal started with what was known as the pla-to de resistencia (resistance dish), which included some kind of meat; beef, lamb or pork, alongside some le-gumes, pumpkin or stews. Both meats and side dishes were always seasoned with chilli pepper. Birds and fish were also alternatives to red meat (Pereira, 1977).

After the ‘resistance’ dish came a hearty and abun-dant stew or casserole, where the indigenous cooks had the opportunity to show their resourcefulness and efficiency. Most of these stews were made from a base of corn and/or potatoes. The most important

of these preparations were humitas, which remain a popular dish today. They are made with fresh maize, ground between two flat stones, and then mixed with lard, onions, salt and pepper. This dough is moulded into rectangular buns, which are wrapped with the left over maize leaves, and then cooked in boiled water (Pereira, 1977).

Other common preparations were those made from chuchoca (cornmeal), cochayuyo (bull kelp), pilco (bean and corn stew), and locro (squash, corn and bean stew), among others. Meals were always accompanied with wine, which as mentioned before, became the national drink par excellence, and wheat bread, which remains one of the bases of the Chilean diet until today (Pereira, 1977).


The stews were followed of course by dessert. Hispanic confectionaries were introduced to the country, however, its adoption must have been slow considering the high prices of sugar, which was imported from Perú. The shortage of sugar was frequently compensated with honey and, miel de palma (palm syrup) from the chilensis palm tree. Dessert was also abundant with native fruits, of which the most refined was the chirimoya (custard apple), lúcuma, and the strawberry (fragaria chilensis). The latter, according to the words of Agustín Edwards Mac-Clure2, was the biggest contribution from Chile to European

2 Chilean diplomat, politician, journalist, economist, and businessman, founder of the newspaper El Mercurio, which remains one of the most important periodicals in Chile until today (1878-1941)

confectionary. A French engineer, Amadée Frezier, who visited Chile and Perú in the 1870s, introduced the strawberry into France and had it cultivated in Versailles upon his return (Pereira, 1977).

A variety of herbal teas would indicate the end of the meal. By the late 1500s and in the second half of the 1600s, mate tea from Paraguay, and chocolate from Mexico, were introduced to the menu respectively. The former was a popular drink accompanying the tertulias, or social gatherings, whereas the latter was almost exclusively an aristocratic symbol. (Pereira, 1977).

The usual meal order during the Colonial era was lunch, dinner, and supper. Lunch was served very early, and dinner was probably around 2.00 p.m.,

Fig. 7 - Spanish women drinking mate tea (1713)


while supper was served at 6.00 p.m. The traditional, and not formally established, once (eleven), would take place between lunch and dinner. It is believed ‘eleven’ was a code name coined by the friars, and derivative from the eleven letters of agua ardiente (schnapps or fire water), to dissimulate the real meaning of the gathering (Pereira, 1977).

The menu described earlier represents what was the norm for the elites and not what lower classes and indigenous people ate. During the 16th and 17th cen-tury, indigenous people were usually given just a por-tion of wheat and corn as their daily meal, a pound of meat on Sundays, as well as the ingredients for making a batch of chicha for the week (Pereira, 1977). Since the Conquest and during the Colonial period,

the social structure of Chile was extremely hierar-chical, placing the Spaniards at the top of the aris-tocratic pyramid. They held the economic, political and military power. Second in rank were the criollos (creoles), pure blood European descendants born in the Americas. Most of them, those with money and land, were also part of the aristocracy. The remainder, though, formed what was an incipient middle class. Third were the mestizos, people with mixed Spanish and indigenous blood. They were the bulk of the population in the colonial period. Even though they were free, they lacked any political, social or econom-ic power, and were highly discriminated against. They worked mostly as artisans, manual labourers, small traders, and in agriculture. At the bottom, in fourth and fifth place, came the indigenous people and black

slaves, respectively. Both groups were small, had no rights or power, and by the 18th century were most-ly extinct due wars, poor living conditions, and the introduction of European diseases (Icarito, 2009).

The undeniable differences between the way the colonial elite lived in comparison to the lower classes was a precedent of how Chilean society would de-velop, as a strongly hierarchal society, with a marked religious and patriarchal character. These character-istics were expressed in several areas and activities of daily life, including in their foodways. As the different aspects of aristocratic life refined through the years, people from the lower strata suffered from hunger and scarcity.


Fig. 8 - Aristocratic lunch, circa 1900 Fig. 9 - Lunch at the Mapocho river, circa 1900


From the 18th century onwards, the country started experiencing a strong influx of European influences, especially French, as the elites were able to travel more and more to the Old Continent. The Chilean aristoc-racy conformed to European life patterns; homes ad-opted European styles, and the cuisine, both at home and at restaurants, acquired a strong French influence. The food routine in the household consisted of four meals: breakfast, lunch, once (hightea), and dinner. The table became the centre of social spectacle for the elites, where their aristocratic identity was reaffirmed, and a vivid representation of the tremendous class disparities present in the country (Salinas, 2014).

Dinner in aristocratic homes was the opportunity to display their economic power and luxurious lives:

up to six courses would be served, which included; soups, beef, birds, and stews. Etiquette codes were strictly respected, and a refusal to eat any of the gen-erous courses was considered a great offence to the hosts. Meanwhile, in the lower classes, even though they recognized the standard four daily meals, many of them only consumed two of these. In the cases where dinner was eaten, it was usually leftovers from lunch. The family income was so restricted that the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products was almost exclusively left to the elites. The rest of the population replaced animal protein with the con-sumption of legumes, accompanied by stews and cas-seroles based on wheat, corn, and maize. Nutritional deficiency amongst the low income population was so extreme that measurements from 1937, taken from 9

and 14 year old children, showed an average differ-ence of 3 kg and 12.5 kg respectively, and a variation in height of around 5 and 13 centimetres between children from the lower and higher classes. Needless to say, this nutritional deficiency led to higher mortali-ty, higher vulnerability to diseases, as well as a chronic state of fatigue (Salinas, 2014).

This everyday frugality, however, was compensated during the holidays and at the ramadas3, where people would have the chance to enjoy their favourite prepa-rations, including the national staple know as empana-

3 Open-air stands where people drink/eat and possibly dance, especially during Independence Day celebrations in Chile. These are referred to as ramadas because they’re traditionally made with branches, often palm fronds..


da de pino (a wheat and lard pasty filled with a mixture of minced meat, onions, chilli and hard boiled egg) as well as anticuchos (meat and vegetable skewers), among others (Pereira, 1977). Always accompanied by substantial amounts of alcoholic beverages, these occasions were a release of pressure for a highly burdened society.

Even though there were noticeable differences be-tween the quality and quantity of the standard menus as we move up the hierarchical pyramid, it is fair to say that the core of Chilean cuisine mainly had a ‘peasant’ character. It was not refined, delicate, nor was it moderate. It was a practical cuisine, with a high calorific content, thanks to the heavy use of animal fats and starchy vegetables, which aimed to provide as

Fig. 10 - Ramada (n.d)


much energy and nutrition as possible in the context of the rough conditions, inherent to the conquest of a territory and the building of a society. It is also important to recognize the effects of geography and topography, as Chile was limited along its consider-able length by the Pacific Ocean on the west and by the Andes mountain range to the east; this made it a fairly isolated region with difficulties for the access of foodstuffs, goods, and influences from other regions, all of which didn’t flow easily until the 18th century.

While the food itself had a peasant and simple character, the quantities and the rites were far from humble. According to Pereira, during the 16th centu-ry in Chile ‘Conquerors ate with the same cleanness and lordship as their contemporaries in most cultured

Fig. 11 - Aristocratic banquet circa 1900


cities of Europe’ (1977, p. 19). Efforts were made to replicate the design of Spanish tables, where the refined woodwork, was replaced with some light etch-ing strokes. For dinnertime, these would be covered in white tablecloths, clay and pewter tableware would be placed on it, and chandeliers and candles would light the room (Pereira, 1977).

The distribution of diners at the table, especially during banquets, also had its own complexities. Guest of honour and the hosts would sit at the ‘long-table-cloth table’, whereas less important guests and chil-dren would sit on another, usually less luxurious table, known as the mesa del pellejo (Pereira, 1977).

The Catholic religion was always a component at the table, where the ‘man of the house’ or the man with the highest rank at the table would lead the prayers of the bendito (the blessed) before starting the meal, indicating the beginning of the culinary ritual.

As for cutlery, it is assumed that spoons were wide-ly used, whereas the fork was not introduced until quite late on, as even by the 16th century it was still considered an absurd artefact. The most common practice, however, was to eat with three fingers of one’s hand. Knifes were also widely used in Chile by the 16th century, although they were shared amongst diners, as most tableware, including plates and cups, was. According to Pereira (1977), indi-

vidual plates were a French creation not introduced before the 18th century.

By the 19th Century, the elites had developed the habit of eating out every so often. In the centre of Santiago, restaurants would offer a long list of French delicacies to their refined clientele, avid to experience European cuisine. While French cuisine took over the more sophisticated restaurants, hotels and social clubs, creole cuisine remained very much alive in the city, especially in the most emblematic meeting places such as the Mercado Central (Cen-tral Market), where they would not only sell fresh produce and meats, but also several footstalls would offer hearty traditional preparations and drinks. The Central Market received clientele from members of


the working class, as well as the elite. However, the presence of the latter was more of an anecdotal experience than a reflection of a seamlessly integrat-ed society. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that by this period, eating out every now and then was accessible to most of the population, even though the menus, experience, and locations would be dramatically different and a reflection of a highly unequal society (Salinas, 2014).

Fig. 12 - Mercado Central, Santiago (1915)


At Home: Traditions & the ‘Daily Bread’

Today, our typical menu has changed. Long gone are those meat and starch charged feasts with a never-end-ing set of courses specially designed to impress the diners, as well as to leave them in a nearly-comatose state. However, the average Chilean home has typically maintained the practice of three to four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or once, and dinner, at more or less fixed times. Lunch has tended to be heaviest and most fixed meal of the day, as opposed to dinner, which tends to be lighter. Even though it is true that the rush of modern urban life has led to people spending less time cooking and eating, and that many times meals are eaten ‘on the run’ or alone, the average structure of meals remains, more or less, as follows.

Breakfast is consumed by most of the population (89.9%) (Universidad de Chile, 2016), and it usually includes a hot drink such as tea, coffee or milk, and the preferred food is by far bread, which 78% of people consume to break their fast. This is usually fresh traditional wheat bread, such as marraquetas and hallullas, and is mostly eaten with butter, although other options also include marmalade, cheese, and ham. Only about 8% of the population eat fruit, and 21% eat cereals at this time of the day, although these percentages rise to 25% and 48%, respectively, in the upper classes. Breakfast is usually a fast business as 36% of people take ten minutes or less for this meal, and only 6% take more than half an hour (Centro de Estudios de Opinión Ciudadana - Universidad de Talca, 2006).

Contemporary Foodways in Chile: Peasant Food Meets Aspirational Cuisine

Fig. 13 - Example of breakfast: Marraqueta with avocado, ham and cheese.


‘Bread, with flour, water and fire you wake. Thick and mild, lying round, you repeat the womb, equinoctial Earth germination. Bread,

how easy and how deep you are’

– Ode to Bread, Pablo NerudaFig. 14 - Marraqueta bread

‘Pan, con harina, agua y fuego te levantas. Espeso y leve, recostado y redondo, repites el vientre de la madre, equinoccial germinación terrestre. Pan, qué fácil

y qué profundo eres’

- Oda al Pan, Pablo Neruda


Lunch, eaten between 1.00 and 2.00 pm, is usually the main and least skipped meal of the day, as 96% of the population declare they eat it (Universidad de Chile, 2016), and the average time allocated for it is 34 minutes (Centro de Estudios de Opinión Ciudadana - Universidad de Talca, 2006). Typically it includes some kind of meat (mostly chicken or beef), rice or pasta, and vegetables. Traditional stews and casseroles made out of legumes such as beans, lentils or chickpeas, are also commonly consumed, especially in the lower strata where they are used as a main source of protein. Paradoxically, only 16% of the population admit they consume fish (Centro de Estudios de Opinión Ciudadana - Universidad de Talca, 2006), which is surprising considering that the whole country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and

Bread deserves a special note, since it is a key and irreplaceable item in our diet. Chile is the second biggest consumer of bread in the world, after Ger-many, and average consumption is 90 kg per person per year. It is a staple present at every meal, especial-ly in low-income households. Bread is usually bought fresh everyday from bakeries and supermarkets, and the most popular ones are the marraqueta and hallul-la, although people from upper classes are leaning towards healthier options that include brown flour, for example. Such is the love for bread, many times called ‘the face of God’, that the poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, both Nobel Prize winners in literature (1945 and 1971, respectively) dedicated works to it.

that Chile is the 7th biggest exporter of fish in the world (World Atlas, 2016).

The once has remained a tradition since the colonial era. Even though it was a British import, our version of the afternoon tea has become a Chilean institution in its own right, even replacing dinner for 73% of the population, who choose to have once as their last meal of the day instead of dinner (Universidad de Chile, 2016). The once is usually served between 5.00 and 9.00 p.m and typically includes a hot drink (tea, coffee, milk), fresh bread (marraqueta or hallulla), with toppings such as butter, mashed avocado, cheese, ham, pate, marmalade, and/or scrambled eggs. It can also include sweets and pastries such as biscuits, cakes and kuchen, often homemade. By making it heavier


it’s ‘upgraded’ to once-comida, a fusion of high tea and dinner, which is especially common on weekends.

Why have we chosen the once over dinner, letting the latter fade into the culinary background? It might have to do with practical reasons like the ease to prepare as opposed to dinner, or maybe because over time dinner just became redundant after this afternoon snack. Either way, there is only so much that can be attributed to these practicalities. The truth is that, more than any other meal, the Chilean once is full symbols that speak about our idiosyncrasies; images of perfectly set tables, large amounts of warm bread and melting butter, homemade banana milk, freshly baked pastries, and black tea inking our cups, are part of Chilean imagery. Traditionally, the once happened

around 4.00 p.m., and it was one of the most import-ant moments for family life, where they would gather around the table and share their day. On the weekends, they would be even greater, and when having a guest over it was usual to have once. At these times, wives and mothers would showcase their hosting and baking skills, treating their family and friends with a variety of homemade snacks; savoury and sweet. However, even on these occasions, the once was not about opulence, but about warmth and companionship. The demands of contemporary urban life have taken a toll on this tradition, as with most things, but it is fair to say that the above descriptions are still very valid today.

For women, the once or teatime, is of particular relevance, and they consume it in more frequently

Fig. 15 - A family enjoying la once


in proportion to men by 8% (Universidad de Chile, 2016). This is not only the moment when they could spoil their families, but it’s also the preferred occasion to meet with friends. Teatime between girlfriends has been a precious occasion for women, to catch-up, talk about their lives and problems, and seek advice from their closest friends. More than just a meal, it is a rite of such cultural importance that it has been immortalized in the documentary La Once (2015), by Maite Alberdi, which features a group of elderly women, who have been meeting for teatime every month since they graduated from high school, over 60 years ago. Why do Chilean women typically meet at this time? Considering that the once used to be earlier (today is usually around 6.30 p.m.), it might have to do with the fact that, in the past, this was

a convenient time for housewives to meet, before getting ready to receive their children and husbands at the end of the day.

On the other hand, this tradition also speaks about the extremely classist character of Chilean society. Historically, there have been several day-to-day terms whose use has been linked to particular socio-eco-nomic classes; they reveal people’s ‘place’ and origins in our hierarchical society. The name of this meal has been a polemic topic, since calling it la once is associ-ated with the lower strata, and for the upper classes this term is almost forbidden, as it is considered low culture; instead, the elites call it hora del té (teatime) or el té (the tea).

Dinner is served at around 8.00 p.m. As mentioned before, it is often skipped or replaced by the once, and it’s usually lighter than lunch, as people tend to prefer vegetables and soups. Meat, especially chicken, accompanied by rice, is also consumed but in smaller amounts, and many times its made with the leftovers from lunch.

Just as in most places around the world, in Chile, cook-ing and feeding the family is a marked female task. It is so extreme that, according to a study by the University of Talca (2006) 0% of husbands and fathers from the upper-class declared they cooked for their families and only 13% and 9% of males from the middle and lower classes respectively did. Even though this is a common trend globally, this striking representation of


the division of labour at home is not trivial, and says a lot about the strongly patriarchal profile of Chilean society. Furthermore, it is also surprising to see that, according to the same study, in 73% of upper-class households the cooking tasks are performed by nanas; house keepers, almost exclusively female, hired to take care of the cleaning, cooking, and frequently, babysit-ting. These women historically come from humble backgrounds and rural areas, although more recently Peruvian and Colombian immigrants have taken these jobs. They spend most of the day at their employer’s home, and some of them even live there, however they don’t sit at the table with them or participate in their family lives. Our house kitchens are the arena where the stereotypes, gender inequalities, and classism of Chilean idiosyncrasies are expressed daily.

Chileans still conform to etiquette rules, though to a lesser degree than in the past. El Manual de Carreño, an instruction manual written by the Venezuelan Manuel Carreño in 1853 containing all the etiquette rules necessary to lead an ‘adequate’ urban life, is not longer usually found in a Chilean household, al-though it is commonly referenced, and guides many of our customs today; the table is usually set before starting the meal, typically by females of the house; silverware should be held in the proper way; hunch-ing over the plate, speaking with a full mouth, and making noises while eating are considered extremely impolite and unacceptable in the average household (Carreño, 1854).

Fig. 16 - Charquicán with fried egg

Fig. 17 - Humitas


Eating out: From traditional Picadas to Fine Dining

The amount of restaurants in Chile, and especially in Santiago, has increased exponentially since the 1990’s. According to a study done by Zomato in 2014, Santiago had 7,343 restaurants. That’s one per 825 people, and this does not consider the thousands of food stalls and carts around the city (Villegas, 2014). The amount of times that the average Chilean goes out to eat and how much they spend is hard to establish, since the last study on this topic by the National Institution of Statistics (INE) was based on the National Population and Housing Census of 1992. Back then, 53% of the population stated that they never ate outside their homes, including

workdays. A survey by the company Groupon done in 2015 with 893 Chileans between the ages of 18 and 65 years old, 50% of those surveyed stated they went out to eat at least once a week and that they would spend an average of 32,500 CLP (36.7 GBP) per couple, which is noticeably high. These results, however, are not necessarily a fair representation of the average situation since there is no further infor-mation regarding the sample, which could be limited to their subscribers and, therefore, biased. A study by GfK Adimark (2015) revealed that 35% of the population reported eating fast food at least once a month, and 28% ate at restaurants once a month. Another study, done by Zomato and published by the periodical La Tercera (2014), states that the aver-age spent per couple is about 11,678 CLP (13 GBP).

This survey considered 95% of the food establish-ments in Santiago (Villegas, 2014).

Nonetheless, it is fair to say that Chileans eat out every so often, whether it is a quick snack from the streets, at the workplace or school cafeterias, or at restaurants. Santiago is filled with food stalls and carts selling classic Chilean snack foods such as empanadas, sopaipillas (pumpkin fritter), completos (hotdogs filled with mashed avocado, diced tomato, chukcrut, and mayonnaise), sandwiches, and mote con huesillo (a non-alcoholic drink made out of dried peaches and wheat). Small restaurants and eateries, frequently known as picadas, usually focus their offer-ings on traditional Chilean cuisine, offering simple hearty dishes at inexpensive prices. Furthermore,


Fig. 19 - Completo italianoFig. 18 - Food cart selling sopaipillas and empanadas


Fig. 20 - Street food Fig. 21 - Mote con huesillo seller


today, the fore-mentioned Central Market and the Ramadas are still very popular meeting spots where people can eat most of the traditional Chilean dishes.

Food in these places is characterized for its rich flavors, generous portions, and sensible prices. They cater to the masses, to the average Chilean. They are usually completely unpretentious, many times kitsch, messy, and bursting with buzz. Some of them, such as ‘La Piojera’ and ‘El Hoyo’, are emblematic institutions that have been standing for decades with minimal changes. Those are places for reunion and celebration, as well as hosts for social and political movements. They are places where part of our history has been made. They are the cornerstones of our contemporary folklore, and

Fig. 22 - Lively gathering at La Piojera


a faithful representation of the spirit of Chilean mainstream culture.

While the food at home and at small restaurants historically has focused mostly on traditional local flavors, there is also a significant quantity of interna-tional restaurants offering food from a variety of over 20 different cultures in about 2,500 establishments in Santiago, according to the study by Zomato (Villegas, 2014). What is more striking is that the most abun-dant are not those from our neighboring countries or Spain, but from Asia. Sushi restaurants are the most popular with 663 establishments in Santiago in 2014, followed by the Chinese with 643. This is not trivi-al considering that the restaurants offering Chilean food in this city accounted for 673 businesses, only

Fig. 23 - Meal at El Hoyo


ten more than for sushi. If we consider that in this study Japanese food restaurants (129) were consid-ered separate from sushi establishments, our national gastronomic representation falls behind the Japanese (Villegas, 2014). It is worth mentioning that Chile, historically, has not had a significant amount of Jap-anese immigration, unlike Perú, and the estimate of Japanese descendants and Japanese nationals residing in Chile in 2015 was of 4,622 people in total (Minis-try of Foreign Affairs of Japan , 2015).

Then, why is there so much Japanese-inspired food in Chile? It probably has to do with the easy ac-cess to the essential raw materials such as fish and fresh produce, the convenience of it (most of these restaurants focus on delivery), reasonable prices, and

also an increasing ‘culinary-snobbism’ amongst the middle-upper class. Chile, as a culture used to taking foreign influences and adapting them to make them its own, did the same with sushi, which has very little resemblance to real sushi from Japan. What in Chile is called sushi, are actually thick rice rolls filled with several ingredients, which almost always include, besides raw fish or seafood, avocado and cream cheese, and are usually wrapped in more avocado, fish, chicken, or tempura. It is far from the simple and moderate combination of rice, raw fish, and a small touch of wasabi and soy sauce that we find in Japanese sushi. Furthermore, there is very little known about Japanese foodways, hence the ritual and etiquette related it are completely omitted and replaced by Chilean codes.

Fig. 24 - Roll with merquén, an example of Chilean sushi


Furthermore, Chileans have shown an increasing interest in eating foreign foods, as a study by the market research company GfK Adimark (2015) showed that, when eating out, 48% of the people chose to eat Chinese food, followed by Chilean food with 47%, and in third place Japanese food with 16% (GfK Adimark, 2015)

The proportion of foreign gastronomic options as against traditional Chilean cuisine tends to increase as we look towards more sophisticated establish-ments that cater to the upper-middle class. Fur-thermore, in this range, the few restaurants that we encounter offering Chilean food are mostly or exclusively what has been denominated ‘New Traditional Chilean Cuisine’. This cuisine is specially

promoted by an association of chefs known as Les Toques Blanches that aims to develop and disseminate a renovated national gastronomic identity, particularly looking towards international markets. These chefs make efforts to use classic local raw materials in the construction of dishes with an international take, but not necessarily rescuing or embracing tradi-tional preparations and recipes. It resembles more a Chilean-inspired author’s cuisine than traditional Chilean cuisine. It is an ‘exportable’ version of Chil-ean gastronomy. Furthermore, the ‘New Traditional Chilean Cuisine’ is targeted towards clientele from the highest strata of society, who seek sophistication and esthetics in their meals, and are willing to pay a premium for it (Ivanovic, 2004).

It is known that globalization has affected cultures and traditions globally, many times blurring differ-ences and homogenizing them, and cuisine is not an exception. Hence, the development of ‘International Gastronomy’ and ‘Fusion Cuisine’, which attempts to unify European, American and Asian flavors for the tastes of global diners. This astonishing interest on international food, particularly amongst Chilean aspi-rational and elite classes, as well as the efforts being made to sophisticate and internationalize our tradi-tional flavors, are a reflection of our own national identity, always trying to ‘keep-up’ with the devel-oped world. At home, we maintain our traditions and heritage, but for our outside image, for the world to see, we prefer to show how in tune we are with ‘first world culture’. We have historically shut down our in-


digenous roots, opting to embrace the heritage brought by Spanish colonists and European immigrants.

Thus, in the Chilean gastronomic scene we face a culinary dichotomy of two very different identi-ties. On one hand, we have the traditional Chilean cuisine, represented by the classic picadas and small restaurants; centers of social life for the low and middle classes, and the most faithful representations of Chilean mainstream culture, spirit and heritage. They are rooted in our imagery and they are part of our contemporary folklore, and they have played an important role in constructing and reproducing our collective identity as Chileans. Mainstream Chilean culture celebrates and embraces our uniqueness, our history, and our traditions. As Salazar (1991) explains,

this mainstream culture is engrained in the struggle, resilience, and strength of the working class through our history, as well as the creativity, imagination and wit with which they have overcome crisis.

On the other hand, we see the culture of the free-market, eager to adopt and embrace European and North American culture, but without the cre-ativity and originality to make it their own. A rootless identity based on an imitative character (Salazar, 1991). This is what we see portrayed in the tables and menus of high-end restaurants and their mari-nades of World Cuisine. The identity projected and reinforced in these establishments is the one of class identity, since their prices, menus, and location only cater to those who are part of the elite and have the

means and sophistication to access it. Just as with language, eating there reveals their ‘place’ in the so-cio-economic hierarchy.

The confrontation between these two conflicting identities, a ‘mainstream-creative’ and an ‘elite-imi-tative’, might as well be the very essence of Chilean culture. Salazar (1991) states that only the creative culture (from the working class) can aspire to consti-tute the true identity of the nation; our identity can only be found in what’s original to us, and not in the ‘copy’ (elite-imitative culture). However, they are both heavily present in our society today. It’s important not to forget that people hold not just one, but a series of identities, individual and collective, that interact with each other, and that these are in a constant state of


construction. As discussed before, identities are a fu-ture project; a reflection of who we want to be (Lar-raín, 2001). Hence our cultural and national identities are a collection of all those identities. Chilean culture is as much creative and original, as it is imitative and aspirational to foreign cultures. We are defined by our past struggles, just as much as we are by how we want to be part of the ‘developed-country club’. This dichotomy of identities itself is what is truly Chilean. They move within a spectrum, and they are tinted by other aspects of identity, such as religion, gender, ethnicity, etc. As we have seen, these are represented in our foodways day to day, in our domestic and in our social lives.

Fig. 25 - Quinoa and seafood dish by Chef Guillermo Rodríguez


Humans are the only animals with the ability to cook, and some theories, such as the cooking hypothesis (Wrangham, 2009), suggest that this skill was key to the survival and evolution of our species. By learning how to use the elements, starting with fire, we were able to access a wider variety of food, extract more nutritional content, and facilitate consumption tasks (less effort and time chewing and digesting). Fur-thermore, as eating and cooking are essentially group activities, our foodways are a cornerstone for the un-derstanding of society and our own place place in it.

Foodways, defined as the cultural, social and eco-nomic practices relating to the production and con-sumption of food (Oxford Dictionaries), are one of the many symbolic languages through which individ-

uals express their individual and collective identities. People hold several identities, which are constantly changing. These are not constructed simply by our past and present contexts, but they also represent our aspirations for our future selves. In this sense, our food choices can rarely be dictated solely by nutri-tion, but indeed, by what we chose to eat (or not eat), as well as the narrative around our foodways, that reinforce, construct and reflect our origins, values, and attitudes.

In order to better illustrate how cultural identities can be constructed, expressed, and understood through their foodways, we have looked at Chilean culinary culture and traditions. We started by understanding its origins in the intermixing of three cultures (Spanish,

Indigenous and French) and in the context of the conquest and the development of a colony. We also saw how all these precedents have affected Chilean society today, by looking at the way families eat at home, as well as the gastronomic scene in street food, picadas, and fine dining restaurants.

Through this exercise we have been able to unravel some of the key aspects of Chilean identity. We can see the reflection of a society that has suffered from severe disparity and unequal distribution of economic and political power since its beginnings: a country dominated by class differences and patriarchy. This is present in our diets, cooking and eating practices, roles in the kitchen, as well as in our language. How-ever, we also seen a society fond of its traditions and

Conclusion

‘What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?’- Lin Yutang

Conclusion| 43

one that embraces commensality. A society that still craves unsophisticated and hearty casseroles made from maize, corn and beans. Smoked chili peppers, paprika and cumin, all these are still the flavor of our cultural identity.

Furthermore, we have seen how small food establish-ments, used mostly by the working classes, have kept a focus on traditional dishes, regardless of their lack of refinement or the suitability of their esthetics. This mainstream cuisine embraces the uniqueness of our culture, our Latin American and indigenous roots, as well as the struggle and ingenuity of our society (especially the working class). Yet, as we raise our budgets, the proportion of traditional Chilean food noticeably starts to fall behind the more widespread

international cuisine. Moreover, at this price range of restaurants, we encounter what is know as “New Tra-ditional Chilean Cuisine”, which is an “exportable” version of our culinary traditions, which rescues our staple raw ingredients and flavors, but in new prepa-rations. This cuisine has an imitative character, which tries to appeal to international markets. It caters to those who value refinement of flavors and aesthetics, and have the sophisticated palates and resources to do so. It reinforces oligarchy and class identity.

The confrontation between these two cultures exem-plifies the struggle Chile has defining its own identity. There is always the feeling that we don’t always fit in with our South American neighbours, while not quite belonging anywhere else. We try to celebrate

our roots at the same time that we have deep aspira-tions to feel more “first world”. Very often, outsiders describe Chilean cuisine as “insipid”, and maybe that comes from our undefined national character. In this dichotomy of identities, we have chosen to remain in limbo. Nevertheless, at least the smell of freshly baked bread will always be there to remind us that, at the end of the day, all of us are Chilean.


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