This is a picture of my lunch today: fresh marraqueta bread, hot from the grocery story bakery, and a ripe palta (avocado) seasoned with a pinch of salt and the juice from half of a fresh lemon. Yummy!
There’s just something about palta that makes it a favorite element of Chilean food. (Of course, not everyone is a fan of it. I have read more than one blog by foreign exchange students in Chile who lament having palta at practically every meal in their host homes!)
For desayuno (breakfast) or for once (teatime), you might eat palta the way I did for lunch today. At almuerzo (lunch) or cena (dinner), it would probably be served in salad form – tomato & palta, celery & palta, palm hearts & palta, etc. – seasoned with oil, lemon and salt.
Sometimes palta is just a good snack. In our house, Pedro and I often slice open a couple of them, sprinkle them with salt and lemon, and each eat our own. (I suppose I should mention here that a whole kilo (2.2 lbs) of palta in Chile often costs what we would pay for one single palta in the States!)
Palta also makes a very good appetizer. At restaurants, you can order “palta reina” which is the two halves of the palta stuffed with chicken salad and served on a bed of lettuce. It’s attractive and delicious, too!
Of course, I can’t forget to mention Chile’s famous hot dogs, known as “completos” – these have palta on them (in addition to tomato, ketchup, onion, and sometimes a type of sauerkraut!) Many sandwiches also have palta in them. In fact, if you go to McDonald’s here you will find advertised the “Pollo Italiano Jr.” sandwich which is basically a fried chicken, mayo, and palta sandwich. It’s not too bad!
It used to be said that avocado was bad for your cholesterol. Now it is said that it has the “good” kind of cholesterol and provides an excellent source of potassium. Who knew?? Well, maybe the Chileans did! (:
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