Snacks

3 recipes

Choripán Chileno

Chile's street sandwich and the food that fuels any Sunday football game or summer picnic. You take a Chilean longaniza (or any good fresh pork sausage), split it lengthways but leave it attached at one end so it opens like a butterfly, and grill it six minutes per side until the surface is charred and the inside still juicy. Marraqueta rolls split and toast briefly on the grill, the sausage tucks into the roll, and a generous spoonful of pebre goes on top. Some hands add a dab of mayo or mustard. Eaten immediately, standing up, with a beer in the other hand.

27 minutes Serves4

Empanadas de Queso

Chile's cheese empanadas, the parties-and-snacks half-moon that's the lighter, quicker cousin of empanadas de pino. You knead a dough of flour, salt, butter, warm milk and an egg to a smooth pliable ball and rest it for thirty minutes. The filling is simplicity itself: cubes of queso fresco or mozzarella about a centimetre across, with a sprinkle of oregano. Divide the dough, roll each ball to a ten-centimetre disc, place a cube of cheese in the centre, fold into a half-moon, crimp the edges with a fork. Deep-fry in moderately hot oil for three minutes per side until deep gold. Drain briefly, eat hot before the cheese sets - the stretchy bite is half the pleasure.

1 hour 35 minutes Serves16

Humitas

The Andean-Chilean answer to the Mexican tamale, but unfilled - just sweet fresh corn intensified by being pulped, wrapped in its own husk, and steamed into tender parcels. You shuck fresh sweetcorn and save the husks in warm water to soften. Strip the kernels: half get pulsed to a coarse paste, half stay whole, and the two textures combine in the bowl. Onion softens in butter with paprika and salt, then folds through the corn. Two tablespoons of mixture spoon onto each softened husk, the sides fold in, the ends fold down, and a thin strip of husk ties the parcel closed. Steam for forty-five minutes until the corn has set. Served hot with a sprinkle of sugar (the savoury-sweet thing happens at the table) or with pebre alongside for a saltier finish.

1 hour 20 minutes Serves6