CHILE 🇨🇱
For many years Los Andes Bakery in North Bergen has been the type of place that when passed on a day of walking always was done with a full stomach. Its abstracted mountains in the window, something like what you see from Santiago de Chile, have always had a pull. On a recent weekday morning the panaderia chilena finally became the destination, and a few rewards were procured.
It should be noted that this is more than just a bakery, they make many types of quick Chilean meals and sandwiches, and even pastel de choclo on weekends. A variety of breakfast dishes paired with freshly made coffee, and an assortment of empanadas are all on offer. In good weather, a short walk to the western corner of James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park would make for a pleasant place to bring your loot, but the few tables they have are just fine as well.
Having to decide between a chacarero and a completo, Chile's famous hot dog with avocado and many other toppings, is always a challenge, but on this day the chacarero ($5.95, below) won out. This uniquely Chilean sandwich consists of thinly sliced churrasco steak paired with a nice mound of green beans.
On the streets of Santiago you can eat one of these almost every block, as small diners called schoperias (something akin to a shop selling draft beer) offer these and other quick bites to keep the alcohol from acting too quickly. Here it is served on hallulla bread that is baked fresh in house.
If there is one disappointment with this sandwich, it is only that there is no healthy smear of avocado, something you see on almost everything in Chile and something usually found on this sandwich as well. As seen in the section view below, a healthy dose of mayonnaise is used as a condiment instead, as well as some tomatoes.
When the sandwich comes out, a bottle that has been refilled with their housemade salsa will be offered, and this of course does no harm to your bites as well.
If you have ever been to the South American nation, you may come back thinking there is no other food more iconic than the large square folded meat pastries known as empanadas de pino ($4, below). Bigger than most of their continental brethren, this could be more than just a quick snack, the smells of freshly baked ones permeate the streets of the capital.
The word "pino" does not mean pine as the direct Spanish translation would suggest, but rather is a derivation from the native Mapuche word "pinu" which means pieces of cooked meat. When wheat and beef arrived during the Spanish conquest, the Mapuche started making the first iterations of these, the modern versions of which remain extremely popular with almost everyone.
Like any good South American bakery would offer, the display case here is full of sweet treats, many of which use the ubiquitous dulce de leche. One new treat found on this visit were cuchuflÃs (below), which are also popular in Argentina where they are known as cubanitos. This of course is a reference to their tubular resemblance to a famous Cuban cigar.
These are light as air and surprisingly have a texture much different than imagined. Instead of a crispy exterior, the lining is quite soft and the whole thing gives a nice chew.
The next visit will have to coincide with a weekend to try that pastel de choclo, a savory corn and chicken casserole sometimes considered Chile's national dish. But the menu's offerings are wide and generous, so a chicken version of the empanada and that always inviting completo will probably come calling as well.
The bakery also operates a location in Westchester County in Sleepy Hollow. The branch in Peekskill was the unfortunate victim of a fire late last year.
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