Merkén

What is merkén you ask? It is a gift to the world from the people known as the Mapuche. The Mapuche are one of the indigenous people here in Chile. They are a proud people who were never conquered by the Spaniards.

While in Temuco I visited a city called Pillanlelbun (pee-'yan-lel-'boon <-- no idea if that is the proper way to spell how to pronounce something, but the ' means accent). There I met a pastor and his family who work the Mapuche. As we enjoyed dear fellowship they served us a delicious lunch. One of the condiments on the table was a small dish with merkén in it. As always, I went straight for it and once tasting it I pretty much dumped it all over my food. 

What is merkén? It has similar qualities to chipotle. Chipotle is a smoked jalapeño that is usually then put into some kind of an adobe sauce. Here in Chile we don't have jalapeños, but we do have some other chile peppers. One of those peppers is call the "cacho de cabra" (goat's horn). This is what it looks like:

What is done to the cacho de cabra is that they are smoked. Once smoked they can be used in many ways while cooking. One way I use them is to make a delicious colorado sauce. Back to merkén... After the cacho de cabra is smoked it is some how ground up with a number of other spices until the condiment known as merkén emerges. Here is what it looks like:

I have tasted various versions of merkén, and the general concensus is that the best ones come from Temuco. Having said that, I've tasted several from Temuco, and while I enjoy the condiment it is not really something I go super crazy over. However, this merkén that I ate at the pastor's house was definitely different and it was the very best I've ever tried. After raving about it they found what was left in the kitchen, put it into a bag, and gave it to me to bring back home! Needless to say, I have been putting it on everything since we got home. We have merkén coming out of our ears!