Northern Chilean Foodways

Regional

NORTE GRANDE: the Atacama, the driest non-polar desert on earth, where agriculture exists only at oases and in the altiplano above — quinoa, maize, potatoes, camelids, and the AYMARA and LICKANANTAY communities of Arica, Parinacota, Tarapacá and San Pedro de Atacama; plus a fishing coast and a mining economy that has shaped what gets eaten since the nitrate era. NORTE CHICO: Atacama and Coquimbo, semi-arid transverse valleys with goats and goat cheese, papaya at La Serena, olives, and the pisco valleys of Elqui and Limarí.