Have a trip to ancient Italy through the exquicitas recipes of the nonna in the trattorias of the small Chilean Italy.
The table is long with a red checkered tablecloth, and there are fifteen diners who are looking forward to the antipasti whit which the dinner will begin. The wooden walls give a cozy touch to the ristorante, and the typewriter that adorns the living room reminds of an old time.
The carpaccio di zucchini and the crescentine with prosciutto e mascarpone come to the table and the festival of sounds begins. "Mmm .." some say, while others delight in silence to listen to the stories of Patricio and Mamma, members of the Flores Fulgeri family and owners of L'Emiliano, a culinary jewel hidden in the Chilean Araucanía.
It all began in 1904, the host tells us, when his brothers embarked from the province of Modena, in the region of Emilia Romagna, Italy to sail to the Chilean territory that promised land to work.
This is how Capitán Pastene was born, a small town located in the middle of the forests of the Nahuelbuta mountain range in the Araucanía region, which until today keeps the Italian traditions intact and where the restaurant that starts the story remains.
The second and main course of the night is stuffed pasta. Capelloni di ricotta e spinaci with sauce with pesto e Pomodoro for some diners, and raviolone d'agnello (pasta stuffed with lamb) with bolognese sauce for others.
The pasta is fresh, prepared the same day in an artisanal way. The sauces are made with the best raw materials. Nobody talks. Some will boast later of having eaten the best pasta of their lives.
In L'Emiliano and in all Capitán Pastene they cook according to the recipe of the nonna of each family brought from Italy. The trattorias and ristorantes are family businesses. Cozy houses set to receive customers.
Today the chef who leads the baton is María José, Patricio's sister. She went to Italy to perfect herself in the arts of the Cucina. But L'Emiliano is not the only restaurant you can not miss in the small Italy of southern Chile. The trattoria Pastas Covili adapted in the most harmonious way the Mapuche flavors such as merkén, pine nuts, and hazelnuts, to the recipes of her Italian family.
This small foodie paradise is also the perfect place for those who like to cook with quality products. On Dante Street, you can find the Prosciutto ham factory of Don Primo. An old man wearing a beret when displaying hams hanging from the enclosure where his flagship product is manufactured.
In other of the lovely streets of this town is Montecorone, a restaurant, and emporium that also sells prosciutto and other Italian delicacies.
Anyway, a weekend trip to Capitán Pastene can become a sensory experience, as it was the dinner this evening that culminated in an unforgettable Nutella cake. As legendary as the history of the colony that arrived in 1900 from the remote region of Modena.
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