Chilean food is simple, traditional, and delicious. We had one great meal after the next, and then we learned why. It’s all about tradition, culture, and real food. We spent the day with Pablo, one of the chefs from Chilean Cuisine Cooking Classes in Valparaiso, Chile.
We came away with a better understanding of Chilean life and an appreciation for new flavours, as well as learning a bit about Chilean culture. And we enjoyed a fabulous home-cooked meal, by us. Importantly, the menu adapts to allergies and dietary requirements. (Chilean Cuisine Cooking Classes can even accommodate those with Coeliac Disease.)
Choosing the menu of Chilean dishes
Our adventure began outside the Melbourne Cafe in Valparaiso. Owned by an Australian, it serves the style of coffee we love. Here, we met Pablo. Sitting together at one of the tables, we reviewed the menu of traditional Chilean food, picked from typical Chilean food options, before heading to the market to purchase the fresh ingredients we needed.
Each class prepares pebre, empanadas, and pisco sour, along with the group’s collective choice of an entré, main, and dessert from a list of traditional Chilean dishes.
The menu we chose included pebre (Chilean salsa), empanadas (traditional baked turnover pie with meat onion filling), machas a la parmesana (baked razor clams with cheese), charquican (country-style vegetable mash), and leche asada (baked milk Chilean dessert), plus the pisco sour. Pisco is a popular brandy produced in Chile.
Take the same great class we did. Reserve your cooking class here.
Shopping in the Chilean market
We took the city bus from the cafe, an experience on its own, and got off near the market.
As we approached the market, Pablo gave us the same reminders we have heard almost daily since arriving in Chile. Keep your bags close, camera and mobile phone out of sight except inside the market, and always be aware of your surroundings.
We went to the local market, complete with every type of produce, Chilean seafood, meat, bread, and spices one can imagine. Inside the main building, the produce looked fresh and delicious, although imperfect. Foods grown in Chile use fewer chemicals, thanks to clean food laws. There are also food stalls outside the markets, which have fewer regulations and often sell older produce at a reduced price.
At the market (Mercado El Cardonal), we purchased beef, clams, cheeses, butter and cream, potatoes, vegetables, chilis, and spices, including merkén. Pablo knew many of the vendors, and in addition to the things we needed for our meals, he brought some fresh, in-season strawberries and grapes to enjoy while we cooked.
Photo Credit: ©Sarah Albom
Taking the oldest elevator in the city
From the market, we had two options: walking uphill or taking the oldest elevator in the city and walking downhill. We made a great choice opting for the latter. The ride took only a couple of minutes, but where else are we going to get this experience?
The walk was pretty impressive.
A famous staircase took us up to Cerro Concepción, a series of narrow, mostly pedestrian-only maze of streets covered completely in street art. Chilean Cuisine’s kitchen is behind a beautifully painted doorway.
Take the same great class we did. Reserve your cooking class here.
Preparing our traditional Chilean cuisine
Next, the real fun began. Dicing, chopping, mixing, rolling, and folding – this is a hands-on class, and we did the preparation alongside Pablo.
Finally, a feast
Heading to Valparaiso?
If so, we recommend adding a day for Chilean Cuisine cooking lessons. It is time well spent, with a bonus of being educational, delicious, and fun.
Final thoughts on Chilean cuisine
- If you want to take the same great class we did, you can reserve your cooking class here.
- Don’t plan on a big dinner in the evening after the class. You won’t be hungry.
- Be adventurous, try new flavours and enjoy.
- There are baños (bathrooms) in Cafe Melbourne and at the cooking school.
- Be sure to enjoy some of the other fun things to do in Valparaiso and nearby Viña del Mar.
- Valparaiso is an easy day trip from Santiago, the Chilean capital city.
- Wondering where to stay in Valparaiso? Check out these Valparaiso accommodations.
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What will you prepare in a Chilean Cuisine cooking class?
Disclaimer: We were provided with complimentary classes to assist in the writing of this review. However, the opinions expressed here are strictly our own.
Neha Kuriakose
Hi Rhonda and Jeff, thank you for sharing your experience, it looks so wonderful. I am interested in booking this cooking class in Valparaiso. Unfortunately, the links are not working. Is there a way to contact Chef Pablo via email? Thank you so much!
Rhonda Albom
Try this link: https://www.cookingclasseschile.com/
Camila @ Adventitious Violet
What a fun thing to do! Valparaiso is one of my favourite places and gotta love Chilean food!
Hilary
Hi Rhonda – that looks an amazing experience … I loved reading it and Jeff looks really happy with his clams! … Happy New Year to you all – cheers Hilary
Corey
Love this as I spent a bunch of time in Chile in my 20’s and absolutely loved Valparaiso. Probably drank too many Pisco Sours too! What a great idea to take a cooking class and get to know the culture better by way of food. I’m sure the end result was amazing!
Corinne
We are planning a trip to Chile in the next year or two to visit our Chilean daughter (AFS) as well. I love taking cooking lessons, so now this is tops on my list. I love empenadas. Yum!
Brooke
It was fun to read about your journey through the market and walk through the streets in addition to your experience at the cooking class. It seems like an excellent way to experience the local flavors and life. The street art is incredible–I loved seeing so much color and variety!
beatravelling
This looks cool! Hoping to visit Chile next year 🙂
Anda
I love how fresh everything looks in Chile! In fact not only in Chile, but in other parts of South America and Europe as well. We don’t have such great open markets here. Of course there are a few, but everything is outrageously expensive and not even by far as varied as in other corners of the world. I admire you for having the patience to take cooking lessons while traveling. I so hate to stay in the kitchen, that for me it would be punishment to have to do it while I am supposed to have some real fun.
Rhonda Albom
I love going to fresh markets in developing countries, they seem to do it right. Europe, South America and even the middle east seemed to have such variety in their fresh markets. It is cutting out that middleman and the days it takes from the freshness. As for cooking, Jeff does most of ours as he loves cooking, so for me, it is a treat.
Himanshu
Yes that’s the theme of my traveling – discover a place through its food culture. Loved reading this post. In my next outing, i plan to take this kind of experience for sure. Shopping into vegetable is a new kinda activity for me. Colors on those walls tells about the vibrant chilean life.
Rhonda Albom
Colourful food, colourful lifestyle. Chile is pretty amazing, and this day filled with food culture was a highlight so far.
Paul Pietrangelo
That was quite a day especially having to walk up and down those streets. I’m sorry, I think I ouldn’t be able to do that with problem legs. Eating, I would have no difficulties. LOL. You lucky woman. See ya Rhonda.
Cruisin Paul
Rhonda Albom
There were two options to get there, and I am guessing there would be a third for you (but I don’t know, as it’s on a pedestrian street, and we walked the stairs. They were very accommodating about diet but we had no walking issues.
Ray Gudrups
Great fun, Rhonda! 😉 Didn’t saw the final product! 🤔 I guess it was delicioso! How was the Chilenian cuisine in general? We were pretty disappointed with the overrated food in Peru..
Rhonda Albom
Hi Ray, we were not disappointed by the Chilean food, in fact, it is one of my favourite things about the country. And you are right, the food was delicious, and each course was served separately. I had to choose amongst the photos to share. Tell me which one you want to see and I will add it.
Susanne
I enjoy cooking very much. If you can then combine your passion with getting to know another culture on vacation, I think that’s just great. I have never eaten chilean chile, I have to see if there is a suitable restaurant in Berlin …
Rhonda Albom
The food is great, and not too spicy. If you get a chance, go for the classics first, they are all listed above.
Mel Butler
I have to say this looks like a lot of fun. Not only do you learn something, you can to taste some yummy food. I think learning a countries cuisine is that country makes the experience better. If that makes sense
Rhonda Albom
Agreed, we had loads of fun, from the market to the elevator, the cooking, and of course the eating. And it was delicious.
Carol Colborn
Chilean cuisine sounds delicious, especially with the familiar empanadas! My favorite fish is Chilean sea bass. And how colorful are those steps leading to your class!
Rhonda Albom
Yes! And nothing better than empanadas we made ourselves! And better still, I go home with the recipe.
Ryan K Biddulph
Fun times Rhonda. You do such a wide range of activities. I love it. Chilean cuisine looks delightful.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Ryan, we do try to do experience the different cultures in a variety of ways.
Danik
I love to do cooking classes when I travel the world and would seriously consider doing this when I eventually get to Chile. The food looks amazing at the end and sounds like you had a great time doing the class. 🙂
Rhonda Albom
Both very true, the food was fantastic and we had a great time. I would highly recommend both a trip to Chile and this class.
Laura Pedlar
This is such an interesting thing to do! It was great that you were able to visit a local market to purchase the ingredients- I would definitely enjoy doing something like this as it gives you a different perspective of a place. I think I will see if I can find a cookery class on my next trip.
Rhonda Albom
The market was an experience all by itself. Definitely take a cooking class!
stevebethere
Well I enjoyed those photos looked like so much fun plenty of smiles to heheh, amazing street art too 🙂
Have a cuisinetastic week Rhonda ➡
Rhonda Albom
We had a lot of fun making the food.
Ebony
That looks like the most exciting day! I’ve never cooked any Chilean cuisine so this sounds too perfect.
Ebony
Rhonda Albom
I’ve eaten a fair amount of Chilean and learning to cook it was a great experience.
Crystal Marie
This looks like an absolute blast. A cooking class is something I’ve always wanted to try. Good gift idea, too!
Rhonda Albom
Yes, this class would be a good gift.
Carol
Learning the cuisine of a country is the best way to get to know the culture. Food always brings people together. Great post!
Rhonda Albom
I agree. I really enjoyed the meal and conversations with Pablo.
Comedy Plus
What a fun way to spend the day. I would have loved doing this.
Have a fabulous day, Rhonda. ♥
Rhonda Albom
I had a great time and learned so much in the process.
Marcela
This is so interesting and fun. I wish we have something like that in my country. It is nice that on classes like this you can learn so much. I haven’t try any of Chilean Cuisine.
Rhonda Albom
I did learn a lot about the culture, the food, and a better way to chop onions.
Alex J. Cavanaugh
What makes that so great is your involved in the entire process. And you get to see some of the colorful area on top of it.
Rhonda Albom
I agree. It gave us a different perspective by being involved right from the start and doing the shopping too. Yes, the colourful area was a bonus.
Kavita Favelle
I love doing cookery classes to learn more about other cuisines. Even better when you can have a choice for some of the menu you make. I’m also a huge fan of food markets and love when classes take you to a great local market to buy ingredients for the class. This looks like a great activity for me!
Rhonda Albom
Visiting the food markets was a lot of fun.
Marya
this looks so fun. i’m not really good at cooking myself, but the cooking class here doesn’t seem too difficult. would you recommend it to a total beginner in terms of cooking like me? 🙂
Rhonda Albom
I definitely recommend this class for all skill levels. If you don’t know, they teach you.
Nic
This is such a great local experience from start to finish, not only were you able to learn about Chilean cooking but visiting the markets and streets is just as important in understanding what the food is about and where it comes from.
Rhonda Albom
I loved the whole market to plate concept and Pablo was very knowledgable.
Sandy
This cooking class looks amazing. I learned so much about Chilean cuisine from this post!
Rhonda Albom
It was a great experience and a highlight of our time in Valparaiso.
Jill
I love the street art – so very colorful. I also love taking cooking classes in the local cuisine if I can make it work with my schedule. Looks like this was a really good one.
Rhonda Albom
Investigating the street art was a lot of fun and the cooking class was incredible.
Cynthia
This looks like great fun! I love sampling foods of the area I’m visiting, but what a great idea to take a cooking class to learn how to make things yourself – best souvenir you could get, having a homemade meal back home months after your visit! I like the idea of going to the market as well – reinforcing the language and culture of the area you’re visiting in a way no usual tourist site could do.
Rhonda Albom
I will definitely be using the recipes they sent to me.
María
It looks like you really enjoyed the cooking class. I love the classic menu that you picked. We are headed to Valparaiso in February thanks for the warning about Europcar.
Rhonda Albom
We also loved our menu. Enjoy your visit to Valparaiso, and yes, choose a different car company.