Both Sides Now: The World is my Barnacle

Puerto Varas is known to have some of the best seafood restaurants in Chile and the ones I tried were certainly no disappointment! I even had my first Giant Barnacle – who knew that barnacles were edible?!? I thought they were just the crusty things on the bottoms of boats that sailors had to scrape off. Apparently, those scrapings are pretty tasty! Especially with a little squeeze of lemon!
Speaking of seafood, there’s an island off the coast of the Lake District called Chiloe. Living on a fishing island in the Pacific means you have access to some really great seafood. We were fortunate enough to go to a “traditional” seafood lunch at a farmhouse on the island with Maria Louisa and her husband of 30+ years. I found their wedding picture in the house and asked them to pose for a before and after picture:

On Sundays, the men gather a big pile of clams and mussels and put them into a pit full of hot coals. These are covered with chicken, pork and potatoes and then branches and leaves, canvas, and layers of sod and peat moss. They leave it to steam for about 3 hours and then uncover it to reveal culinary nirvana! We enjoyed a complete feast in the farmhouse with the family – the best shellfish meal I have ever enjoyed!