Psst … Chacarero (W Trail: Day 4)
Word of the Day: Chacarero
noun. A Chilean word for farmer that is now mostly used to describe one of the best sandwiches into which I have had the good fortune of sinking my teeth.
This morning found me felicitously curled up in building that did not have inexplicable holes in the windows. The cook seemed to agree with my buoyant mood and she serenaded the dining room as she put together the morning meal. Somehow my pack seemed lighter, the sun seemed brighter, and the distances seemed shorter as we hiked along the trail.
Well, for one, the distances were shorter. Today we only had to achieve Hotel Las Torres. Yes, I know, this is the least legit backpacking trip you have ever heard of. But hey, we worked hard for this :).
On our way, we stumbled across a bunch of horses grazing in a pasture on the opposite side of the lake. We crept along the side of a hill to get a closer look at them and they were cavorting around the pasture and splashing around in the shallows, clearly enjoying the unusually warm Patagonia day.
Later we ran into some very sunburned fellow Californians who were eco-touring Patagonia. After lending our red-faced compatriots some sunscreen and picnicking next to a babbling brook, we dragged our bedraggled selves into the incomparable Hotel Las Torres.
I’m sure that Hotel Las Torres has many merits (i.e. good internal plumbing, dependable warm water, beds that aren’t bunked) but the thing I will remember most is discovering the Chacarero phenomenon. The Chacarero sandwich consists of a mouth-watering mix of thinly-sliced steak, tomato, green beans, and spicy chili peppers. It has just the right amount of acid, spice, and crunch, mixed with the heartiness of the steak. And, hilariously, the name apparently gives Boyfriend a speech impediment. Charcacero, Chascarero, Chacanero. The list goes on…
It reminds me of the time my old boss said, “you know, to-MAY-toes, po-TAH-toes.” Tomatoes, potatoes, chacarero. Perfection however you say it and somehow I never even managed to snap a picture of this perfect sandwich. So now you need to go to Chile to go try it for yourself!
Chacareros in hand, we watched the sun set behind Las Torres–and so ended yet another perfect day in Patagonia.