Every man and his [hot] dog



The favorite fast-food of Chile is undoubtedly the completo. It is more or less a hot-dog with the lot - which in Chile means: sauerkraut, chopped tomato, avocado purée, a heavy mountain of artery-clogging mayonnaise, and of course - buried under the rubble - a nasty sausage of nitrate over-dose. There are at least several places selling completos on every block in downtown Concepción.

Speaking to my friend, Juan, about it he said, "Completos are the traditional fast-food of Chile. Completo means complete or full."

He continued, "There's a well-known true-story that's been going around for the last year. A foreigner tried to get on a bus for Chillán - and buses to Chillán are always full. So the driver of the bus wanted to tell the foreigner, in English, that the bus was full and had no room, so he said ' Bus is hot-dog. Bus is hot-dog.'"




[Above] The best completos in Concepción are said to be at the popular Fuente Alemana, down-town.