The people you meet and the dishes you eat....

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As we stepped onto a ferry, from Dalcahue in Chiloe to another even smaller Chiloen island, Jan caught the eye of a very engaging and characterful co-driver of a truck (we later discovered his name was Alexandro). Much gesticulating through his window ensued (he was trapped in the cab by cars). The dregs of a large bottle of vino tinto were offered to us through the window. When this was declined (as it was just after breakfast) he assured us in wild Spanish that it was purely for medicinal purposes as he had a sore throat. He and his mate Juan offered to take us to our destination the other end of the island so picked us up once the ferry had unloaded. Please do not tell our children that we have been hitch-hiking as it is of course forbidden whilst travelling. Mind you I don't think that accepting a lift from a slightly worse from wear lorry driver is strictly hitch-hiking is it? Despite the language barrier we had a hugely entertaining half hour. He was very keen to communicate with us and we all enjoyed the challenge with much laughter and gesticulation. The cab was pervaded by wine fumes, the driver took a couple of selfies en route as we veered across the road. They wanted to take us home again later on, but it was too tricky to fix.

We are staying in Dalcahue (very tricky to say in a way the locals can relate to), on the east coast of Chiloe island. There's a wonderful arcade of tiny kitchens and chairs squeezed around them selling fabulous fish food. We perched on tall chairs at the counter, eyes agog at the gargantuan portions. We recklessly asked for one curanto (pictured, recipe below) and a fish soup. Both were delicious, apart from two large greasy potato dumplings that topped the curanto.

Recipe for curanto: Dig a hole, put in hot stones. Then add shellfish, sausage, pork, potatoes and chicken and potato dumplings. Cover with wild rhubarb leaves and leave to cook for a few days. Huge, but very tasty.

We also discovered that we had been eating barnacles (probably;bright orange, quite gooey,consistency of soft fish roe. Might have been sea urchins. Tasted good anyway if somewhat too colorful), which was a bit of a shock given how dreadful they look when freshly harvested. Who would have thought that such a delicious little morsel could be hiding in such a horrible looking body (I can feel the start of another philosophical point here but will move swiftly on). This close up is not meant to give an insider's view of Pete's dental work but the detail of the insides of a barnacle. Do not get them confused.

Also on the menu has been conger eel (soooo delicious), clams and endless Pacific salmon - so last year dahhhling.

Penguins (visiting not eating) tomorrow!

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Comments

[Sarah]

Not only hitch hiking but with a drunk driver! It'll be mopeds without helmets next! So glad you're having the best adventure xxx

[P]

eat and meet
pressed a button and everything disappeared - who knows whither it went. Anyway - Curanto will no doubt be cooked in the garden of Rathmoy this summer. Do vegetables, apart from potato dumplings which hardly count, exist in Chile? Cannot BELIEVE you hitchhiked with a strange wine-reeking man who, oddly, looks a lot like Pete, and wears the same sort of hat. Surely that alone would have been enough to put you off. What sort of penguins? - my guess is Magellanic - looking forward to photos but NOT of you eating them. (Daren't hit return in case it all disappears again so it's a bit stream of consciousness) Px

[Gwen]

Drink-driving
I think it's not the hitching that is a big no-no, but the imbibing of copious amounts of tinto that's a problem when travelling .....

[Ruth]

Ladz
Love the pictures and Alejandro sounds like a legend, looking forward to next blog! I’ve thrown all your advice out the window now and am going to use everyone’s razors I can find