ChilePork was part of the largest and most important winter festival in Chile, organized by Coexca’s Campo Noble, the Municipality of Talca and its Culture Corporation. In its 12th edition, more than 20 chefs from Chile and abroad cooked recipes based on Chilean pork.
It has been described as Chile’s largest and most important winter festival. The Fiesta Costumbrista del Chancho reopened its doors on the weekend of August 20th at Talca’s main square (Plaza de Armas), bringing together families and neighbors from the Maule Region and the rest of Chile to celebrate tradition with the tastiest and most elaborate pork-based dishes. Twenty chefs from Chile and abroad, helped by more than 200 local culinary students, cooked 20 tons of pork to the delight of the demanding and diverse palates of all attendees.
The Fiesta showcased 20 pork-based dishes, such as pipeño (sweet young wine) stewed tenderloin with sopa de trilla (traditional threshing-season soup), sweet and sour pulled pork with chaufa quinoa (fried Chinese style), beer-braised bondiola (pork shoulder), stewed mote (boiled wheat) and chicharrones (pork rind), and the traditional Argentinian locro (meat and vegetable stew).
One of the main stands was from Coexca’s Campo Noble, the event organizer, where renowned Chilean chef Rodrigo Barañao presented an interesting and innovative proposal. One of the recipes was sponsored by the sectoral brand ChilePork, which distributed more than 800 samples of Asian-style pork shoulder.
ChilePork, which brings together all pork exporting companies, wanted to promote its brand in the domestic market while highlighting that Chile is the seventh largest pork exporter worldwide and is well positioned in Asia.
Coexca’s General Manager Guillermo García, said: “We are very happy with this 12th edition of the Fiesta Costumbrista del Chancho. More than 300,000 people visited us this weekend in Talca’s Plaza de Armas. We leave with a happy heart, as families were able to meet again, we hugged each other and came together again around a dish of pork and our folklore, preserving our traditions, our intangible heritage. I’m very happy and thank you so much for joining us.”
Not only visitors were happy and thankful for the affordable ticket prices, considering the economy and high inflation; local craft makers and entrepreneurs were also pleased with their results; sales were good and the fair was an opportunity for economic recovery for many.
