Un fin de semana en Horcon

Roughly 2 hours from Santiago towards the Pacific coast one can escape the cage of smog and get lost to the open shore and congregating pelicans of Horcon. One can also find the small resort of holiday homes where we spent the weekend. A mid-August day meant for chilly sea breezes and greying skies but a calmness unbeknown to the hustle and bustle of the great city.

We arrived midday and took the lift down the sheer cliff to la pequeña playa below. We followed the trail of colourful shells to the centre of the fishing pueblo, where young and old men fished amongst crowds of large throat pouches. For almuerzo we ate at the local seafood restaurant and treated ourselves to homemade, fried empanadas filled with creamy cheese and prawns, followed by Chupe de Jaiba (crab). Chube is one of my favourite Chilean soups or stews, depending on what you prefer to call it. I first came across this ‘preparation’ while living in Punta Arenas but down by Antarctica’s doorstep, Centolla (king crab) is bountiful and cheap and so I sunk my teeth many times into Chupe de Centolla. Unfortunately, further north king crab becomes expensive and so the poor average crab is consumed instead. Nevertheless, Chupe makes any crustacean taste succulent and flavoursome in your mouth.

That evening my handsome local man and I walked around the gardens of the resort, hand and hand, escaping into each other’s thoughts and opinions. We sat wrapped in our winter coats under the starry sky and looked out into the night horizon, into our own unknown horizon with keen and hopeful eyes. The following day, we enjoyed a home-cooked meal with the in-laws or should I say our chauffeurs for this weekend away. And then it was back to the bright lights and traffic jams of a late Sunday evening.

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Chupe de Centolla Recipe : Cook shellfish (King Crab) in water in a pot; reserve the juice. Clean shellfish and discard the shells then cut into small pieces and set aside.

In a separate saucepan, add (1 cup) milk and (2 cups) fresh bread crumbs and cook over medium heat until thick. Add the reserved juice and cook sauce until it forms a medium to thick texture. Remove from heat and stir in (1/4 lbs) cheese, (4 tbs) butter, (2) egg yolks and (to taste) salt and pepper, and mix well.

In an oven-proof dish, place shellfish and cover with the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 180ºC for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned.