PUERTO MONTT Stopover and Visit to PUERTO VARAS
Including the A TASTE OF CHILE: FRESH FUSION Tour
Thursday 29th March 2012
The MS VEENDAM anchored this morning in the bay just off PUERTO MONTT on LAKE LLANQUIHUE.
Therefore it was necessary to take one of the ship's tenders to MUELLE FISCAL in the utterly enchanting Port of ANGELMO, just west of PUERTO MONTT to get onshore.
The sun was shining and the skies were totally clear and blue, which we were told was quite a rarity in this region, where it rains or is misty and cloudy for most of the time.
We were greeted at 10h00 at the pier by our "Tour Guide" Lilly and our "Master Chef" Richard Knobloch, who were our hosts for the day.
Although Lilly was born and raised in PUERTO MONTT, she is of German origin, as are many of the people living in this area of Chile, which was colonised initially by German settlers in the 1850's and then again in the 1940's.
These German Settlers really favoured the region and shaped many of the towns after their beloved homeland with many town retaining a distinct Bavarian cast with house styles that could be anywhere in Germany.
Richard Knobloch though was indeed German and originally from Cologne, although he has lived, with his Chilean wife (and children) in both PUERTO MONTT and SANTIAGO de CHILE for over 20 something years.
We were taken initially to the Seafood Market and then to the Produce Market of the Port of ANGELMO (just a few metres away) to take look at, then choose and buy some of the various fresh ingredients necessary to prepare lunch.
These included two types of mussels, clams, seaweed and algae. Several types of fondant (for broth) some beets and beans, potatoes and "elephant" garlic several cheeses, green chilli sauce and a selection of spices. Plus some green egss, yes, green eggs, some lemons and red (bush) berries (for dessert) too.
The Port of ANGELMO is an artists paradise, with beatuful scenes such as these both in the harbour and on the lakeside too. There were also many beautiful homes on the hills overlooking both the harbour and the lakeside too.
We then continued on by minibus down to the sea front of PUERTO MONTT to see what freshly caught fish (by the fishermen that morning) in LAKE LLANQUIHUE was available and chose and purchased some hake, which was filleted for us by the fisherman himself and bagged with the heads included.
Heading out from PUERTO MONTT through one of the residential areas of the city towards PUERTO VARAS (known as the City of Roses, some 30 kilometres away) we stopped off at a farm to pick up some additional vegetable and a selection of herbs, to complete the required ingredients.
We also viewed the beautiful gardens that Juanita, the owner (again of German origin) had created of beautiful flowers, vegetables and herbs.
Then on to PUERTO VARAS, which is an absolute delight, idillically nestled in a quite cove on the shores of LAKE LLANQUIHUE and to the BRAVO CABRERA Restaurant.
Located right on the shoreline of LAKE LLANQUIHUE, offering stunning views towards to snow capped (and closer) Calbuco Volcano and (the larger) Osorno Volcano in the distance.
It was then into the kitchen to help prepare all the various indredients and then start to cook the various dishes being served for lunch, with Richard Knobloch and the restuarant owner Miriam Junge.
It was both a delight and an honour to be able to participate with these two expert chefs, as we all worked together in preparing the luncheon.
And, as well as being very interesting and extremely informative, it was an amazing experience to then eat each of the dishes we had prepared and which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
We spotted some of the typical houses located in PUERTO VARAS as we made our way to the Trans-America Highway to head back to PUERTO MONTT and the MS VEENDAM.
