Last year, representatives from the World Food Travel Association were invited to Chile’s Northern Patagonia to explore the local culinary culture and provide a professional assessment as to the potential to develop culinary tourism in that region of Chile.

The site visit includes meetings with local tourism and foodservice representatives, as well as agricultural producers. One of the highlights of the week was a visit to Fogon de Matilde, an indigenous country farm and cultural experience. The indigenous cultures (especially the Mapuche) are strong in this part of Chile. At Matiilde’s we sampled authentic local foods (bread cooked in coals from a fire, forest mushrooms, farm-fresh eggs and home-made cheese), made with authentic recipes, authentic utensils and cookware, and using authentic methods of cooking and baking.  We then visited two other indigenous families to learn more about the people, their food, and their culture. At the end of the week, we presented our assessment to representatives of Gastronomia Patagonia, who are working with the locals to preserve and promote their local culinary cultures.

Learn more about  the work of Gastronomia Patagonia.

You can watch the short video about our week in Patagonia (20 minutes, Spanish language only, CC available).