By: Magnus Ames, Carleton College
Ever heard of Chilean Thanksgiving? Maybe? No…? Me either, but our lamb-themed asado (lamb roast) decked out with sweet bread, mashed potatoes, apple crisp, and much more almost fits the part.
This meal is, of course, far beyond our usual standards, but its characteristics tell the wider story of food in Aysén. First, the asado itself: if you come to Chile, you will eat some form of sheep, likely repeatedly. Of the culinary traditions in Aysén, the asado is ubiquitous along with the practice of drinking mate at lava-level temperatures at all hours of the day. It is easy to get behind the asado, but I have to say, I fear I will never be able to drink mate like a Chilean without a slight look of alarm on my face.
Moving on to our more traditional Thanksgiving dishes, the ‘sweet bread’ should stick out a little because, well, it is supposed to be pumpkin bread but has become sweetbread. Like many products, pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice, all that, does not exist in Cochrane, and like virtually every Round River meal, we have had to experiment. As Claudia will tell you with horror, we thankfully are not the group that invented pasta-quinoa surprise, and instead, our meals cycle through pasta (although never enough according to Owen), curry, lentil soup, and sandwiches.
What is important to remember about Round River meals is that every day resembles Thanksgiving in that students always cook together. For our group, we decided to have two students cook the group breakfast and lunch and another group cook dinner, but over a week, everyone will cook multiple times. Sometimes, this is more successful than others, but overall, our group does pretty well.
On the trail, this shifts a little where everyone helps out as they are available to. In Cochrane, we are excited to have some real mashed potatoes (extra butter), but on the trail, as you might in the United States, we eat powdered mashed potatoes and all types of traditional backpacking food. And finally, besides the asado, the Chileans attending our Thanksgiving are likely most excited about our apple crisp reflecting their deep love of sugar.
Beyond Thanksgiving, my favorite meals on the trip have been mayonnaise on white bread topped with a fried egg, our very heavily spiced chicken curries for lunch or lentil soups and pasta with white sauce for dinner. Despite being far from the United States, our meals regularly look like healthy versions of what college students would cook for themselves back in the states. For myself, this has been a wonderful opportunity to see how others cook and learn how to cook for ten or more people. If you are looking for a cooking masterclass and comfortable trying a questionable meal or two, Round River might just be for you.