FéminAs was paid a visit from the other side of the Atlantic by Chilean chef Pilar Rodríguez who, like other speakers at the congress, is sincerely devoted to promoting the taste of her native land. She feels it is crucial to conduct an in-depth study of the ingredients around her, and to have a close relationship with her producers.

A late arrival to gastronomy, she left the business world to immediately fall in love with cookery in France, and most particularly the country's enogastronomic discourse. She then went back to Chile to replicate the model, exploring all the rich varieties of a country where, "with 20 different climates, we can produce just about everything", she claims. She began work at her Food&Wine restaurant in Colchagua, two hours away from Santiago, well rooted in the O’Higgins winemaking region, where she applies the concept of terroir to kitchen, as a combination of climate, land and tradition. “Traditions in the rural environment have some very deep roots; I try to update them by giving them a more modern setting, albeit with respect at all times for origin, to serve up local cuisine where relations with the producer are essential. Chefs are a platform to promote them, and help perpetuate the local richness of gastronomy", she declared.

Pilar's talk was mostly based around this concept, because "the origin of products is the basis of my contemporary Chilean cuisine, which is always seeking beauty in austere ingredients. In other words, few ingredients with a wealth of taste, properly cooked and always washed down with the most appropriate wine. In Colchagua we drew up a mapping of the food produced, especially flower of salt and our excellent extra virgin olive oils, and I began to cook alongside wine experts, in a bid to comprehend each wine from its origins; it was an incredible journey", she recalled, and gave a few examples of her food/wine combinations at Food&Wine, such as "papas chilotas" and Osetra caviar with cream cheese for a sparkling Espumante del Maule; a tasty "secano" lamb from the coast for Syrah or a southern hake with raw nut sauce and pistachios in "pebre" pepper sauce for a red Cinsault Itata.

What matters is a woman's happiness

The first woman to be declared a world gastronomy ambassador by the World Tourism Organisation, Pilar thanked FéminAs for promoting and showcasing the trajectories of women in gastronomy. “I believe the most important issue for women is to ask ourselves whether we are happy, and to stand shoulder to shoulder, show what we do, and demonstrate what we are", she said, adding that "in Latin America new generations are arriving to create an extremely powerful female movement in gastronomy".

She rounded off her talk with two very typical recipes in her region. Mussels with rice and red and black quinoa biscuit, and a purée of avocado and salicornia. The second offering was produced in a "pulmay", "a version of the "curanto" rock and leaf method used to cook a Chilean stew with an intense flavour that would bring a dead man back to life". Langostino prawns, mussels and other molluscs, according to preference, with "pelota de chapalete" made with grated raw "papa" potato and boiled papa purée cooked with crackling, added to a hot broth.