Vol. 04 — A Long, Narrow Table

Chile

From Valparaíso to Patagonia

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Standfirst

A country that stretches four thousand kilometres from desert to glacier — and eats accordingly. Pacific ceviche in the north, Andean cazuela in the mountains, asado in the south, and a pisco sour on almost every table in between.

Chapter One

A country you eat from north to south

Chile is a coastline pretending to be a country — a ribbon of land pressed between the Andes and the Pacific, running from the driest desert on earth down through vineyards, temperate forests, fjords and finally to the wind-scoured south. The table follows the geography: ceviche and machas a la parmesana on the coast, pastel de choclo and cazuela in the central valley, cordero al palo on a Patagonian spit.

What unifies it all is a quiet, family-first way of eating. Once, twice, sometimes three times a week the same dish appears — a slow chicken cazuela, a warm marraqueta split with palta, an empanada de pino eaten standing up on Independence Day. Chilean food is less about drama than repetition; the same small pleasures done well, over and over.

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Chilean food is less about drama than repetition — the same small pleasures done well, over and over.

— Maison Maps journal

Chapter Two

Empanadas, asado and the language of Sunday

Sunday in Chile smells of woodsmoke. Fathers, uncles and neighbours gather around the parrilla for an asado that always starts later than announced and ends much later still — chorizos and prietas first, then longaniza, then the big cuts of beef, always with a bowl of pebre and a tumbler of red on the side.

Empanadas de pino — hand-folded, filled with braised beef, onion, a whole olive and half a hard-boiled egg — anchor the meal, especially in September, when the entire country celebrates Fiestas Patrias with cueca music, chicha and long tables outside.

The Chile blanket — a warm, illustrated map of the long, narrow table that stretches from the Atacama to Patagonia.

Chapter Three

Small daily rituals

Once — the late-afternoon tea with bread, palta and mermelada — is as sacred as lunch. A terremoto on 18 de Septiembre, a pisco sour to start any celebration, a marraqueta warm from the bakery. The Chile collection is made for those quiet, repeated moments.

Apron — Santiago

Tote — Valparaíso

Poster — Chiloé

The Collection

The Chile Collection

Empanadas de pino, pastel de choclo, cazuela, curanto, pisco sour and terremoto — the long Chilean table gathered into a single illustrated composition.

Explore the Chile country page →Shop Chile on Etsy →