La carta por favor: A Chilean Menu

The following is a brief description of some of the most common foods that I have encountered here in Chile. Trust me, they're good:

palta: avocado; used on almost everything, but especially in salads and on sandwiches, such as the "ave palta" (chicken and avocado) and the churrasco palta (roast beef and avocado).

jugo: juice; delicious, often sweetened; includes such old standbys as orange and apple, along with cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon, pear, and a plethora of others.

pastel de choclo: literally "corn cake"; a sort of meat casserole including beef and corn (here called "choclo" instead of the more common "maiz").

barros jarpa/barros luco: sandwiches of hot ham and cheese/hot roast beef and cheese, respectively; each one is named for the former Chilean president who supposedly prefered it.

pisco: the Chilean national liquor, although it is named for the region in Peru where it was originally created; distilled from grapes and therefore technically a type of brandy; its most commmon uses include the pisco sour (pisco, sugar, lemon, and sometimes egg whites) and the piscola (pisco and cola).

schop: draft beer; Cristal is the largest Chilean brand; often sold in schoperias; it can also be mixed with fanta to create a schopfanta, though I haven't been daring enought to try it yet

filet/pollo/bifstek/ etc. a lo pobre: literally "poor man's filet/chicken/steak/etc.", it has little to do with ones economic status; indicates meat served with a fried egg on the top and french fries on the side.

And, of course, mayonnaise on everything.