Family Affair

July 12, 2009

Today Ali shared her family with us all. We had empanadas, cazuela y mote con huesillos. It was fantastic to be surrounded by loving family, adoring Ali and welcoming us all with open arms. The house that we went to for lunch was so very beautifully homemade. All of the food that we ate was from the farmers market and prepared over a couple days. The furniture was covered in hand sewn dressings and everything had a warm personality to it. I was content to be there with friends and family culture. I ate too much, like anyone would when surrounded by ample and delicious food. Today I learned that Chilean cuisine is indeed delicious, unlike the food that I have found while eating out.

I want very much to make Mote con huesillos. It is a great treat to drink and eat for dessert.

Mote con huesillo is a typical Chilean non alcoholic drink and dessert.

“It is made from husked wheat (mote), mixed with sun-dried peaches (huesillo) that have been rehydrated in water for hours. The water in which the peaches were rehydrated is mixed with some sugar, and the wheat is mixed in a glass with the peaches and the peach-flavored sweetened water.”


Ingredients:
28 huesillos
1 Kg. of sugar
Orange peel
cinnamon sticks
1/2 kilo of cooked mote
3 cups of sugar

Put the 28 huesillos, the kilo of sugar, the cinnamon (just a few sticks) and the orange peel in a pot with water. Leave it to soak overnight. The next day, cook the huesillos until soft, taking the pot off of the stove.

In a separate pan, cook the three cups of sugar - when the sugar begins to burn, slowly pour in liquid from the huesillos (in the first big pot) until all of the sugar becomes a juice and is completely dissolved.

Pour the sugar mix into the large pot with the huesillo juice, adding the cooked mote. Serve when chilled, making sure to mix thoroughly before serving!

Serves 6-7 people