Lo que no se mata, engorda

I watched “Super Size Me” last night for the first time. Watching that poor guy literally eat himself to death was insightful and revealing at times, but also just plain gross. The movie made some seriously reevaluate their eating habits, and many have since sworn off the evil wares of the corporate devil (McDonalds). It just made me hungry.

Lo que no se mata, engorda. (That which does not kill you, makes you fat). I don’t necessarily agree with this statement, but its fun to say. The truth be known, the food here is both disappointing and enlightening. Chile has very fertile ground and every climate zone within its borders, so everything grows here. The fruits are sweet, plentiful, and cheap, (especially tomatoes), and the vegetables grow huge (which could be good or bad depending on how you feel about vegetables). Wild Salmon is plentiful in southern Chile, and all forms of seafood and shellfish abound along the coast.

With as wonderful as the crops are, “Chilean cooking” is a bit of an oxymoron. They cook only the meat and cookbooks could be titled “three ingredients or less”. The culinary masterpiece of Ensalada Chilena, a traditional diet mainstay present at nearly every meal, is just sliced tomatoes on a plate.

I have found comfort (and an excuse) in the simplicity of meal preparation. Serving guests boiled potatoes and a piece of unadorned pollo is perfectly acceptable as long as you include a plate of tomatoes. In Cochomo, they served pureed carrots and tomatoes. Tonight, everyone gets a head of lettuce, pan, and a tomato.

As I look back over previous posts, I realize that food is either a topic or sidenote on most musings. Maybe it’s because I am obsessed with food, always hungry, or just busy slicing tomatoes all day to think of anything else. Any way, I can’t guarantee that I’ll ever stop talking about food. But right now, I gotta go find a “you-know-what” for lunch. And yes, I would definitely like fries with that.

Sisma

Looking for our tomatoes to go with all this cheese.