Illustration by Nuestro Stories.
Food is both sustenance and storyteller in its ability to carry cultural heritage deep within the earthenware pots. In the instance of pastel de choclo, or Chilean corn pie, the story behind it is one born of a major moment in history.
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One of Chile’s Patrimony: Pastel de Choclo
A favorite dish among Chileans, pastel de choclo, is a simple but delicious dish that is good any time of year but is served often in the summer after the corn harvest. Considered one of the most popular dishes in the country, its origin stories appear to have been birthed through the time of colonization. According to Sonia Montecino, the Chilean author and anthropologist, the foundational aspect of the dish – the picadillo (meat stew) – comes from the Spanish conquerors and was combined with the traditional corn paste of Chile. She surmises that the fusion came during the time that the Mapuche were forced to work in the kitchens of the Spanish.
While oftentimes our traditional dishes seem to have origin stories in violent pasts, such as pastel de choclo, the recipes are a way to carry the timeline of history through the dish. By taking the Spanish’s concept of picadillo and combining it with ingredients traditional to the Mapuche, it was in small part a way to ensure that the ancestors carried on beyond colonization.
While there are small variations found regionally, the general concept of the recipe for pastel de choclo is the same. If you would like to attempt to make this dish, enjoy the recipe here.
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