• Introduction
  • The Desert North
  • The Central Valley
  • Wine Country and Lake District
  • Chilean Patagonia
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Flavours of Chile

'Flavours of Chile', is a landmark four part series on the food and wine of Chile . Writer and presenter Charlie Ottley, travels from the desert north to the glacial wilderness of Patagonia and is given exclusive access to some of the country's most beautiful farms were he is entertained in true 'Chilean style' sampling some of the world's best ingredients and finest wines.Chile is rapidly becoming one of the South America's most popular travel destinations.

Now a democracy and with the continent's most successful economy Chile is creating a state of the art tourism infrastructure, world beating wines, high quality restaurants and is now one of the world's biggest food exporters. This is the most comprehensive TV series on this little known and stunning country.

AVAILABLE ON DVD

 

Flavours of Chile

Flavours of ChileEPISODE 1: The Desert North

Charismatic poet and presenter Charlie Ottley explores one of South America’s most beautiful and fascinating countries. In this episode Charlie visits the Atacama, the driest desert in the world, tries llama stew, visits an avocado farm, follows in the footsteps of the poet Neruda in Valparaiso and stays at one of Chile’s newest award winning wineries, Matetic, which has an exclusive guest house and restaurant.


RECIPE: Cheese Empanada

Ingredients

1 pound flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound butter, chilled and cut into small cubes, plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 scant cup ice water
1 medium white onion, small dice
1 bunch spinach, chiffonade
3 cups coarsely grated manchego cheese
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
1 cup dark raisins
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water)

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and vinegar. Slowly add the water, as needed, mixing to form the dough, until well blended. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and knead gently until the dough becomes smooth, only a few seconds. Wrap well and chill for 30 minutes.
 
Saute onion in butter and add spinach over medium heat. Cool and then combine with cheese, hazelnuts, and raisins.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half the chilled dough to 1/8 inch thick (keep the other half refrigerated until ready to use). Cut out 3-inch circles. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into the centre of each circle. Brush egg wash around the edges of the dough. Fold the edges up forming a pouch, and seal.
Refrigerate the empanadas on greased or parchment lined baking sheets at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Brush the empanadas with egg wash and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Flavours of ChileEPISODE 2: The Central Valley

This episode begins with Charlie paragliding over Chile's stunning coastline, before he heads inland to Hacienda Los Lingues, a Spanish colonial farm converted into a luxury hotel. Other highlights include lunch with Don Manuel Ariztia, the ‘Godfather of Chicken’ and a visit to Vina La Rosa, one of world's most unusual and beautiful vineyards.


RECIPE: Charquican

Ingredients

Half a kilo meat
2 ears of corn, very finely ground (pureed frozen corn niblets may be substituted)
Half a kilo assorted vegetables
2 tablespoons lard or oil
 2 cups broth or salted water
Oregano
Chilli peppers of your choice, or cayenne pepper
8 potatoes
1 onion

1 egg per serving		 Preparation

Generally, charquicán is prepared with left over meat and is better with ground roasted meat. First, fry meat in lard or oil with the onion and corn seasoned with chile peppers or cayenne, salt and oregano.

Flavours of ChileEPISODE 3: Wine Country and Lake District

In this episode Charlie Ottley travels through Chilean wine country on a steam train. Then it’s off to a historic ranch where we get a unique insight into Chilean cowboy culture and Charlie tries the local speciality – bulls’ balls! Heading further south, Charlie discovers the Chilean Lake District, climbs a volcano, samples the natural hot springs and feasts on locally prepared wild boar.


RECIPE: Porotos Granados

Ingredients

1 kg beans
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 spoons olive oil
2 spoons sunflower oil
5 corns
1 onion (chopped)
1 small carrot
1 bell pepper (chopped)
250 grs pumpkin
2 ltrs chicken soup
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons lard
Salt
Pepper
Basil

 Preparation

In a large pot, fry the onions, pepper and chopped garlic; add the chicken soup and the beans.  Bring to a boil for half an hour. At this point, add pumpkin and grated corn. Stir constantly. Then, reduce heat and let simmer for another half an hour.  After, add salt and pepper to your liking. When serving: add chopped basil and the melted lard with the paprika.

Flavours of ChileEPISODE 4: Chilean Patagonia

Here Charlie explores the southern Lake District, which has a strong German influence, before travelling along the 'Salmon Route', surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes and pristine fjords.  Other highlights include a visit to the beautiful scenery of Chilean Patagonia and a tour of one of the most luxurious geothermal spa hotels in the world.


RECIPE: Flambeed salmon with salad

Ingredients

1 Loin of Chilean salmon
Soya and honey marinade
Sesame seeds

Salad
Chilean hazelnut oil (Avellana Chilena)
Diced hot chile pepper
Sesame seeds
Chopped lettuce

 Preparation

Apply the marinade to the loin of salmon and add sesame seeds.  Cook the salmon with torch as with brulee so that it remains raw inside.  This lightly flambéed salmon known as Tataki is then sliced and served with salad