Dish 1: Palta Reina
SUMMARY
Palta Reina is a common appetizer in Chile, made of chicken salad stuffed in an avocado. This dish is strongly associated with Chilean cuisine, and palta reina literally means “queen of the avocado”. One reason it is such a popular Chilean appetizer is the fact that it is always fresh, because you can make it right before you want to eat it instead of preparing it days before, so both the chicken and the avocado taste extra good. Avocados are a popular fruit in Latin America, which is why the chicken salad is placed on top of or stuffed into the avocado. There is also a Peruvian variation of this dish, called Palta Rellena and it is essentially the same thing but can be made with tuna or vegetables instead of chicken.
PHOTOS
This is the final product of the Palta Reina I made, including a closeup on one individual avocado and all of them together
This is the example picture that I was imitating, included in the recipe I used to make this dish.
Here are the ingredients I made before they were combined- chicken that had just been cooked and salad.
RECIPE
Ingredients: 2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 tsp minced garlic, ½ tsp dijon mustard, ½ cup finely diced celery stalks, ¼ cup chopped celery leaves, ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion, 3 tbsp chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley and tarragon etc), ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 2 to 3 avocados halved and pitted
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Preheat oven to 400℉
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Rinse the chicken under cool water and pat dry with paper towels
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Season both sides with 2 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper
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Heat olive oil in a 12 inch saute pan over high heat
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Add chicken and cook 2 minutes
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Turn chicken over and immediately put in oven
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Roast 10-15 min or internal chicken temp of 165ºF
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Remove from oven and cool
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In a large mixing bowl combine mayonnaise, garlic, mustard, celery, celery leaves, red onion, herbs, celery seeds and cayenne pepper and mix well
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Once chicken is cooled enough to handle, cut into ½ inch dice
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Add chicken to the mayonnaise mixture and mix well
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Place mixture in avocado halves and serve
REFLECTION
Overall, I think this dish went really well. Palta Reina was one of, if not the easiest, dishes for me to cook. Of course this is because as an appetizer, this dish is generally quicker and smaller and therefore doesn't have to have as much cook time or prep time. However, it was a great experience getting to cook this dish and it was interesting to me to experience Chile's culture. Given that avocados are abundant in South America, it makes sense that a typical appetizer of Chilean culture would include avocados. To me, mixing the chicken up into a salad so the flavor distributes evenly is a very creative way to use chicken in food, instead of just having plain pieces of chicken. This was definitely the quickest dish to make out of the five I made, and I would absolutely make it again. Ultimately, I'm glad I was able to find out about this dish and I think I learned a lot about Chilean culture and about cooking from this experience.