If I'd Known What It Was ...

... I probably wouldn't have ordered it.

Surprisingly, food can be one of the hardest things to communicate in Spanish. If you don't already have the vocab, a lot of things are hard to describe. There's been a few times I've been out with friends and when we don't recognize things on the menu and it's too difficult to ask the waiter to explain everything, it's easier just to order.

Case 1: Completos and Italianos were the cheapest things on the menu when we (3 friends and myself) were out at a cafe the other night. Since we all wanted to eat something cheap and didn't recognize most things on the menu (Chileans eat a LOT of different meat dishes) we asked for one of each. The waiter looked confused and asked if we wanted 2 and 2, but we firmly replied 1 and 1 (as if we knew what we were talking about). The result: one hot dog with tomato and sauerkraut (completo), and one with tomato, mayo, and avocado (italiano). And they turned out to be delicious.

Case 2: Churrasco was on the menu, including an option for churrasco italiano. Having learned that the italiano combo of tomato/mayo/avocado was amazing, we went for the churrasco version as well. What arrived was a hamburger-like sandwich, with the burger patty replaced by a thin strip of steak. The meat quality may not have been the highest (by Chilean standards anyway), but fresh bread and the italiano toppings made the sandwich.

Case 3: A terremoto (lit. 'earthquake') is a traditional drink at a well-known Chilean bar. As a welcoming activity, our cultural ambassadors took a group of nearly 50 of us to La Piojera, explained that this was the drink to try, and that one is more the sufficient (esp. for a gringo!) It wasn't long before the room was full of deranged ice cream floats: a mixture of beer and specially fermented wine, topped off with pineapple ice cream. The first sips are indeed as gross as they sound, but if you mix it up and push through, it tastes pretty good by the time you reach the bottom.

Suffice to say, the best way to learn about food is to just eat it. I have yet to try anything here that I didn't like!