:: Blog Crash Cooking :: Traditional Chilean Salsa

Photo credit: Let's Go Chile

It's not easy to track down Chilean food in Australia, so in case you have been having an unsatisfied hankering for some, I will share with you my family’s Pebre recipe. 

Pebre is a traditional Chilean salsa, which is usually served as an accompaniment to a meal. There are lots of different ways to make this traditional salsa, but this is the way my ace grandma showed me how to do it. It's stupidly tasty.

What you will need:

• 3 pinches of sea salt 
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 large white onion
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander – well washed and stems removed
• 4 large ripe tomatoes – peeled
• 2 or 3tbs olive oil
• Juice of one small lemon
• Optional – 1 or 2 red chilies washed and stems removed, but with all their seedy goodness

If you have large mortar and pestle I recommend you use it for the first 5 steps, then transfer the mix into a bowl. Traditionally, this is made in a giant hollowed out stone. I am the keeper of the 9kg stone that has belonged to my family for generations. My grandma brought it across to me from Chile in her handluggage, sweet crazy bird.

Method:

1. Mash the garlic and salt to make a paste
2. If you are using chili, chop it veeeery finely and mix in with the garlic paste.
3. Finely chop your onion. My grandma had a high-risk method of doing this, but it was certainly very effective. Hold the onion down (it’s going to try to run away from you), and with the other hand chop into it like a maniac to create dozens of straight cuts into the top of the onion from all angles. Then flip it on its side and thinly slice the onion, to create miniscule slivers.
4. If your tummy doesn’t cope with raw onion, put your finely chopped onion into a bowl of boiling water, and let it cool down. Drain, rinse and repeat.
5. Add your onions to the garlic paste and mash it through. If you don’t have a pestle, use the back of a serving spoon. (You’ll be needing eyeballs of steel at this point. Mashing onions sure makes your eyes water.)
6. Chop the tomatoes into small squares, retaining all the juicy goodness. Add the tomatoes and juice to the mix and stir through.
7. Finely chop the coriander, and add to the mix.
8. You want this mix to be pretty sloppy. If it needs more liquid, just add a splash of hot water and allow to cool (this makes all the flavours permeate. Yum.)
9. Add the oil and lemon to taste, and give it a good stir.

Serve with your meal as a condiment. It goes incredibly well with roasted meats and veggies. Or, grab some nice dense bread and go dipping crazy!

It isn't a pretty dish, but it sure tastes nice!

XX BQ

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