I know, I know, Fiestas Patrias was on Sunday the 18th...
So I'm late, no biggie. I've been busy! Hopefully you'll all forgive me.
In case you haven't read any of my recent posts talking about Fiestas Patrias, I'll give a quick overview.
Fiestas Patrias or Party of Patriots is a HUGE holiday here in Chile...Like, it's a BIG deal. On September 18 of 1810, Chile broke away from Spanish rule and claimed it's independence by forming it's first governing body. Since that day, September 18th (also referred to as Dieciocho) has been the declared holiday for the celebration of Chile's independence.
I live in the smaller town of Puerto Varas, Chile. In the middle of town is large enclosed tent which is referred to as Techada Santa Rosa, this is where all of the town events such as craft fairs , food fairs, etc. are held. On Dieciocho, this is the only place open in town, and it is a mad house! The amount of people under the tent when I was there, was incredible. So. Many. People. No joke.
Like I mentioned earlier, Fiestas Patrias includes a lot of eating and drinking. This year there were probably 20 vendors in the tent, all of which were selling their own rendition of the same food; Anticuchos which are all meat kabobs, Choripan which are chorizos on a bun with pebre, Milcaos which are fried potato cakes stuffed with pork, Sopapillas which are fried pieces of flatbread, and multiple flavors of empanadas.
So here's a quick laugh, in the above picture is a lady in a red shirt with a red bandana. I was late to the party, so my brother (who looks a lot like me - Large, glasses, brown hair and stands out like a sore thumb) had already gotten one of those large choripans and devoured it. When I got there, I had brought a tupperware container to fill up with food for some of the family who had decided to stay behind, so I spotted those choripans and bought one to throw in the tupperware. After filling up the container, I walked it back to the car so I didn't have to carry it around. When I returned, I walked up to the same booth to get one for myself, when the lady turned around and saw me, she laughed and asked if I wanted another one with pebre...It was in that moment that I realized that she thought I had just put away two huge choripans and was back for a third. I couldn't help but chuckle.
This holiday consists of many traditions such as asados, drinking, partying, drinking, rodeos, traditional dancing, traditional clothing and drinking...Did I mention drinking? There are multiple popular cocktails here in Chile, but the one cocktail reserved for Fiestas Patrias is the Terremoto, or Earthquake in english. You can find my recipe for this drink here. It is a mixture of cucumber wine, grenadine, pineapple ice cream and Fernet. Taaaasty.
Puerto Varas openly welcomes artesian artists and craftsmen who want to sell their handmade products. Just outside of the tent, were two smaller tents with these people selling their items. You could buy yarn, jewelry, cosmetics, wooden crafts, and honey. It is really nice to see a city come together and realize that they want to feed the large corporation monsters as little as possible. It is very important to people here to know that they are buying local. I love it.
Thanks for going along with me through my Fiestas Patrias adventure! I'll leave you with this short Youtube clip that highlights the many traditions of Dieciocho.