Comida chilena

I finally managed to make it to the farmer's market right here near our house.  It's every Sunday morning from 11 to mid-afternoon.  However, between not knowing about it the first week, and then having other plans on Sunday the subsequent weeks, we haven't been able to take advantage until this past Sunday.

It's a wonderful market with nearly 50 stands to choose from.  Almost all of them had this particular combination of items packaged together.  I don't know if this has a special name, but it seemed pretty popular, so of course I had to try it.

It's some kind of bean that I'm not familiar with (if anyone knows what they are, let me know!)  They are relatively soft even before cooking, and they cook quickly (i.e. more like lentils, as opposed to black or kidney beans).  The orange chunks are pieces of pumpkin, which is hugely popular here, and then there's a little clump of basil leaves.  I just dumped this whole business into a pot with sauteed onions and garlic and cooked it up.  Yum!!!  The pumpkin cooks to smithereens and becomes a tasty creamy base for the soup.

 Definitely going to be making this a lot while we are here!  I think next time I'll try pureeing the whole thing.  The fam liked it, but I don't think they were crazy about the texture of the beans.

Today we went to Los Dominicos--a series of galleries towards the Eastern side of Santiago where local artists can show and sell their wares.

Many of the shops serve as studios as well, and we got to see quite a few artists at work making things.  I found these beauties, so now I'll be able to try out the Pastel de Choclo recipe.

The "Ceramica de Pomaire" is a special type of pottery created in the town of Pomaire, about an hour from Santiago.  This is the typical pottery used to the make the Pastel de Choclo.  Apparently it's a Chilean "thing" to go to Pomaire to spend the day, have lunch, buy your pottery, etc.  The pieces are sadly quite breakable, so I guess people have to do this with some regularity, to replace any that have broken.  Given that we will probably prioritize going to the mountains when we rent a car, rather than making a shopping excursion, I was happy that I found a place to buy them here in Santiago.

If I'm really organized, I'll try the Pastel de Choclo tomorrow.  However, I'm flying to Atlanta tomorrow night for the trio's premiere of the Triple Concerto.  I may not quite be able to pull it off amidst packing, etc.  Maybe J will have it all figured out by the time I get back next week.