As we packed up on our way out of Dalcahue and Chiloé, we were sad to be going. The island has a pleasant atmosphere, and it would have been easy to lose ourselves in hours of reading or long walks in the countryside. We, however, had a reservation to keep, and we pushed back to the north with our sights set on Valdivia.
For those of you who have been reading the blog and actually remember some of my ramblings, I don’t have to remind you that Valdivia is the home of Café Haussmann. For those of you who did not remember this fact, I can only shake my head in sadness. Why have you forsaken me? Café Haussmann is one of the best places to eat on this earth! And that is not an exaggeration. If you will recall, the last time Sarah and I were in Valdivia, we were there for a total of 4 days. I went to Haussmann 4 times, at least one time each day. In fact, I had said to Sarah on the bus as we left Valdivia back in November that I wished we were living in Valdivia instead of Temuco because only then would I be able to dine in heaven everyday. For those of you who think I am exaggerating, I ask you this simple question: Could you pass up eating steak tartar smothered with onions, peppers, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a creamy, mayonnaisey tartar sauce everyday? (Did I mention the half liter of Kuntsmann beer that is an integral part of the order?)
For this very reason, we raced to Valdivia – yes, I was driving the last leg – on that Thursday, January 3rd. (We did stop in Puerto Varas for lunch and shopping on the way.) I was so amped up to have the Café Haussmann Tartar and Crudos that we stopped at the Café before we checked into our hotel, just to make sure it didn’t close before we came back to eat dinner. To my (our) relief, it was open until 10 pm. So we headed to hotel and checked in.
But after an hour, we went right back to Haussmann where we waited for a booth. When it opened up, we squeezed in, eagerly anticipating our meal. The waitress came to our table. We said we wanted one order of Crudos and one order of Tartar. She immediately looked at us and said, “You know that the Tartar has a raw egg, don’t you?” To which we said in unison, “Yes!” She smiled, proud of her part in the Haussmann experience. We also ordered 4 half liters of Kuntsmann.
The lemons came first, then the fixings and then the Crudos and Tartar. Jane opted out of the Tartar and just had the Crudos. (The difference being that the Crudos is pre-mixed tartar sans raw egg and comes smeared on a piece of toast with onions, while the Tartar is a glob of meat with an egg on top surrounded by onions and peppers.) We started squeezing lemons for the juice. Added a bunch of salt and pepper, added olive oil, extra hot peppers and began mixing. The slices of toast came next and then we started building our portions with more lemon juice, the creamy tartar sauce and more peppers.
Each bite was divine! And we devoured the meat in its entirety. Next we asked what kinds of dessert they had for the night and ordered 3 different kinds – the pecan cake with fresh whipped cream, the Kaiser with cream, chocolate and manjar, and a lemon pie with pineapple. We were in heaven and laughed and smiled through the entire dinner.
The next day was bittersweet as it was the last day with Bruce and Jane. We hung around Valdivia for a couple of hours heading down to the old Spanish forts on the coast and then drove back to Temuco where we had one last meal together at our favorite restaurant in town, El Fogon. Afterwards we went for a short walk around our neighborhood and then said our goodbyes at the airport.The trip ended too quickly but every minute of it was filled with good food, good fun and great company. We only wished that Bruce and Jane would come down more often – that way we might see and experience even more of Chile!
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