Hispanic Heritage · Chile

El Sur

Castro · Ancud · Dalcahue · Quellón · Chonchi · Achao

Explore this kitchen on the animated map ↗

Pulmay, el curanto en olla

Descubre

Southern Chile’s pulmay brings shellfish, meats, potatoes, and vegetables together in a covered pot. It is a home-kitchen relative of curanto, which is associated with cooking in an earth pit in Chiloé.

La Gente

Layering lets the ingredients share steam and cooking juices. Follow the sequence and check the seafood’s doneness carefully. Bring the pot to the table with bowls for the broth and shells.

Sabor

The south cooks with the sea, the smoke, and the potato. Shellfish liquor, smoked pork, garlic, and the earthy warmth of ají de color and merkén. Oregano and bay for the herbs. White wine in the pot when it is a pot. The seasoning is light because the ingredients are loud.

Spice DNA · Smoke high · Herb medium · Acid low · Heat medium · Sweet none

Seasonings to explore

Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. Between the layers. Adds a savory garlic base.
Black Pepper, ground. Between the layers.
Oregano, whole. On the pork and in the pot.
Paprika. Ají de color, on the chicken and the potatoes.
Bay leaves, whole. In the pot.
Smoked Paprika and Crushed Red Pepper. Together they are a distant cousin of merkén, and the page is honest that it is distant. Real merkén is at some Chilean specialty markets; look for it when possible.

From your market: mussels and clams in the shell, smoked pork ribs, longaniza or a coarse pork sausage, chicken thighs, waxy potatoes, a whole cabbage for the leaves, dry white wine, and if you want the milcao, extra potatoes and a bag of chicharrones. Badia does not sell the nalca.

Cocina

Pulmay, el curanto en olla

The curanto of Chiloé, in a pot, sealed with cabbage. Layer it the way the island layers the hole. Do not stir. Do not lift the lid.

Serves 8

3 tbsp oil
2 onions, sliced
3 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 8 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
2 tsp Badia Oregano, whole
2 tsp Badia Paprika
2 Badia Bay Leaves, whole
1½ cups dry white wine
2 lb small waxy potatoes, halved
1½ lb smoked pork ribs, cut in pieces
1 lb longaniza, in chunks
6 chicken thighs
2 lb clams, scrubbed
2 lb mussels, scrubbed
8 to 10 large outer cabbage leaves, blanched a minute so they bend
Salt, sparingly; the shellfish bring their own
Lemons and a pinch of Badia Smoked Paprika mixed with Badia Crushed Red Pepper for the table

The base. In the largest pot you own, warm the oil and soften the onions with the garlic, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Add the bay leaves and the wine and bring it to a simmer.
Layer. Potatoes first, on the bottom, in the wine. Then the pork ribs. Then the longaniza. Then the chicken, skin up, with a little more paprika. Then the clams. Then the mussels on top. Season lightly between layers with pepper and oregano.
Seal. Lay the cabbage leaves over the top, overlapping, tucking them down the sides of the pot. Put the lid on tight.
Steam. Medium heat until you hear it boiling, then low. 45 to 55 minutes. Do not lift the lid before 40. The shellfish liquor and the wine do the cooking, and the steam is the whole method.
Open it at the table. Lift the cabbage away. The mussels and clams should be open; discard any that stayed shut. Ladle the broth from the bottom into cups. It is the best thing in the pot and chilotes drink it first.
Serve everything on a platter or straight from the pot, with lemon, the smoked paprika and chile on the side for anyone who misses merkén, and bread. If you made milcao, it went in on top of the chicken and is now the softest, smokiest potato bread you have eaten.

Pueblos del Sur

Castro · Ancud · Dalcahue · Quellón · Chonchi · Achao · Puerto Montt · Puerto Varas · Frutillar · Osorno · Valdivia · Temuco · Villarrica · Pucón · Angol · Los Ángeles · Coyhaique · Puerto Natales · Punta Arenas · Porvenir