The completo (Spanish for "complete", "total") is a hot dog variation eaten in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, usually served with ingredients such as chopped

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , ) is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferment the sugar ...

, salsa Americana, ají pepper and green sauce. It can be twice the size of an American hot dog.

History

Origins

The dish was first made in the 1920s in the ''fuentes de soda'' (soda fountains) of central

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. The completo was brought to Chile by Eduardo Bahamondes who had recently travelled to the United States on business. It was there that he first saw the "hot dog" which he decided to bring back to his home country. Once back in Chile, he then opened a restaurant in Santiago's historic centre called Quick Lunch Bahamondes in the Portal Fernandez Concha where he began to introduce the Chilean people to the hot dog. As people didn't like the original preparation, he added other ingredients such as tomato and avocado, which eventually became accepted by the public.

Recipe

Ingredients

Most completos contain some or all of the following ingredients: *

Avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

— Not to be confused with guacamole, traditionally only salt is added to the avocado puree before it is put on the completo. *

Tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

— Fresh tomato is a favourite in Chile. Typically tomatoes are peeled before they are diced for completos. *

Mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

— Chile is the country with the third highest consumption of mayonnaise per capita on earth. It is therefore a very popular completo topping. Completo mayo in Chile is commonly homemade as this is the preferred method of preparation by Chileans. *

Sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , ) is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferment the sugar ...

— Known locally as ''chucrut'', it was introduced to Chile by the large wave of German immigrants it received in the 19th century, sauerkraut is now completely accepted as being a staple food in Chilean cuisine.

Variations

Throughout Chile, specific names are used to describe the different variations of completos: *''Completo'': Sometimes referred as completo-completo in order to differentiate it from the other variants, it's the most traditional version. Its ingredients include chopped tomatoes, mayonnaise (a large amount), sauerkraut and '' salsa americana''. *''Completo Italiano'' or simply ''Italiano'': topped with chopped tomatoes, mashed avocados and mayonnaise, this variation is widely viewed as the most popular. The name comes from its resemblance with the colors of the Italian flag. *''Dinámico'' ("Dynamic"): A mix of the aforementioned ingredients (tomatoes, avocados, mayonnaise and sauerkraut) or salsa Americana. *''Completo A lo Pobre'' ("Poor man's ''completo")'': Made with fried onion, french fries and a fried egg on top of the hot dog. The "poor man's" in the name is due to the fact that the main ingredients are the same of '' bistec a lo pobre'' a main dish historically favoured by low wage workers. *''Tomate mayo'' ("Tomato-mayo"): As its name suggests, it is a version with only chopped tomatoes and mayonnaise.

As

One of the main variants of the completo chileno is the so-called as or chilenito, which is prepared in a similar way to the completo, but replaces the sausage for chopped beef

churrasco ''Churrasco'' (, ) is the Portuguese and Spanish name for grilled beef prominent in South American and Iberian cuisines, and in particular in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The term is also used in other Spanish- and Por ...

type or otherwise chopped chicken breast or slices of pork loin, any of the three cooked on the grill. The same ingredients used for the completos are usually added on top of the meat, also producing each of the above mentioned variants.

Bread

The bread to be used is normally hot dog bun. However, in the absence of hot dog bun, and typically in homemade preparation of completos, people may resort to marraqueta, dividing the bread lengthwise, different from the traditional cut of this bread, to improvise two hot dog buns. In some parts of the country it is also called ''Tortuga''.

Similar international versions

The completo is also a type of hot dog eaten in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, which generally includes

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...

, mustard,

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s, tomatoes, onions,

Parmesan cheese Parmesan (, ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others. The term ''Parmesan'' may refer to either Parmigiano ...

and

fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are ''List of culinary knife cuts#Batonnet, batonnet'' or ''Julienning, julienne''-cut deep frying, deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepa ...

. In

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, it is common to add mashed potatoes. Common extra fillings include

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

and

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

References

{{Cuisine of Chile Chilean cuisine Hot dogs