Salazar's Seasons and a Pacific Pantry

Chile's Formula 1 chapter belongs to Eliseo Salazar in the early 1980s, while a long coastline and Spanish and Mapuche roots give it a remarkably varied table.

Chile has never hosted a World Championship race, and our records hold just one Chilean driver. Eliseo Salazar made 24 starts between 1981 and 1983 for March, Ensign, ATS and RAM, with fifth place his best result. No Chilean team appears in our records, so for now Salazar is the country's entire Formula 1 chapter, and a busy one: four teams in three seasons.

The Chilean kitchen was born where Spanish and Mapuche traditions met. From Spain came cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, along with wheat and wine; the native peoples offered seafood, beans, maize and potatoes, and most of the classic dishes still bring those ingredients together. Later, German settlers in the south introduced sausages, pork dishes and pastries such as kuchen, Italian families brought pasta and cured meats, and French cooking left its mark in the twentieth century.

Geography does the rest. Much of central Chile enjoys a Mediterranean climate, so wine is made widely and often finds its way into the pot, when it has not already found its way into the glass, while the oxygen rich Humboldt Current fills the Pacific coast with fish, shellfish and seaweed. In the far south, among thousands of islands, curanto cooks seafood and meat together in the ground. And manjar, as Chileans call dulce de leche, is among the country's best known gifts to the world's desserts.

Empanadas, chicha and red wine still belong to the independence celebrations. For a race weekend, a pastel de choclo from the oven and a pot of cazuela on the stove make a warm, thoroughly Chilean table.

A taste of Chile

• Empanadas de pino, Baked beef, onion, egg and olive turnovers
• Pastel de choclo, Beef and chicken bake under sweet corn
• Completo italiano, Hot dog with avocado, tomato and mayonnaise
• Sopaipillas con pebre, Fried pumpkin flatbreads with fresh salsa
• Chorrillana, Fries piled with steak, onions and eggs
• Curanto en olla, Chiloé shellfish, meat and potato pot
• Mote con huesillo, Peach nectar with dried peaches and wheat
• Pisco sour chileno, Chilean pisco, lime and sugar cocktail
• Kuchen de manzana, Southern Chilean apple crumb cake

Circuits

Drivers

• Eliseo Salazar