The Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes (CNCA) which will co-host the 6th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Santiago next month is delighted to announce that all attendees will have the opportunity to experience part of Chile's identity and culture ‘in one bite’.
Because a nation's food is an essential part of its culture, Fundacion Imagen de Chile, a Chilean non-profit organization, and a partner and collaborator of the Summit, has developed the concept Chile in One Bite, as a way to present the wide range of the country's gastronomic culture, with the best and most representative products of Chile's different regions.
The opening night's cocktail and appetizer will be the first opportunity to try these flavors. The event will be catered for by the acclaimed Chef Tomás Olivera, who has been described as one of the major culinary ambassadors of the Latin American gastronomic scene. Olivera's work is based on revisiting typical Chilean food by reinterpreting meals which are part of local identities through modern and innovative techniques. One example is his famous version of Pastel de Choclo (originally filled with beef and chicken) with shellfish and crustaceans. With a personal touch, Olivera's dishes bring a creative and unique experience to the Chilean tradition.
During the Summit itself, all breakfasts, lunches and ‘onces’ (the Chilean version of 'elevenses' or "tea time") will be taken care of by Jerónimo Dougnac and his company Quinto Cielo, which develops recipes using the sous-vide technique. Dougnac's goal is to create gourmet adaptations of typical Chilean home-cooked meals. Certain 'once' meals such as marraqueta bread with avocado, pan amasado (country bread) with pebre (a local condiment made of coriander, chopped onion, olive oil, garlic and peppers), and the refreshing mote con huesillo, are some of the simple yet delicious dishes which will be available during the Summit.
To finish the event with a bang, the closing gala will be catered by Chef Rodolfo Guzmán. His restaurant Boragó placed number 8 among the 50 best in Latin America, according to the British magazine "Restaurant". Guzmán carries local identity to the extreme through a technique called 'Endemic Cuisine, which he describes as 'tasting the soil of Chile'. This chef approaches the issue of identity not through a sociocultural tradition, but by exploring the relationship between land, and the raw materials of every location and season. Summit attendees will have the opportunity to try unique mixes of textures, such as the Pastel de Choclo cookie with sea urchin cream, which will be part of the menu served during the gala dinner.
Food has always been an activity around which people gather and share. Thus, 'Chile in One Bite' is an invitation to taste the culture, history and avant-garde Chilean cooking, and to enrich future cultural exchange and collaboration.