Milcao or melcao (sometimes hypercorrected to milcado) is a traditional potato pancake dish originating from the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

in Chile. The dish is prepared with raw grated potatoes and cooked mashed potatoes mixed with other ingredients. It forms an important part of the Chiloé dishes curanto and ''reitimiento'', and is mentioned frequently in folklore as part of Chilote songs and riddles. The dish spread to the south of Chile and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

with the migration of many Chilote families to

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.Chapalele y Milcaos, infaltables en el curanto
Chef Norberto E. Petryk, Alimentación Chile, 20 December 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2013.

Preparation

The most important ingredient is Chilotan potatoes, several different varieties of which are used to prepare milcao. Half the potatoes are cooked and mashed and the other half are grated, sometimes using the traditional Chilote tool of a volcanic

pumice stone Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of extremely vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular ...

. One of two methods may then be employed. The most common method produces ''milcaos colados'', strained milcaos, sometimes pronounced as the rhyming ''milcaos colaos'' with a silent “d”, as is common in

Chilean Spanish Chilean Spanish ( or ) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Standard Spanish, with ...

. Here, the grated potatoes are strained to extract most of the water by folding in a dish cloth or pressing in a sieve or against a hard surface. Alternatively, the grated potato can be folded directly into the mash, to produce ''milcaos rallados'' (“grated milcaos”). In the straining method, the juice from the strained potatoes is saved and decanted to produce chuño, a kind of

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. Th ...

. The chuño can then later be used to make ''milcao de chuño'', milcaos made with a base of potato starch. The strained or grated potatoes are kneaded into the cooked potatoes and

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...

and

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

are added to form a

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

. This is then shaped and pressed by hand into flat, round pancakes. The pancakes can be cooked in the oven, fried or (traditionally) baked and eaten with the curanto.

Variations

Most milcaos are savory, with chicharrones (pieces of fried pork meat and fat) commonly added before cooking. However, there are a number of sweet or neutral variations. *Milcao al horno o frito (oven-baked or fried milcaos): The most common methods of preparing milcaos. They may contain chicharron, which is either mixed in with the dough or stuffed into the pancakes like a

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

. They have a reddish-brown crust and a pale center. *Milcaos de curanto ( curanto milcaos): The traditional Chilote method of steaming the pancakes in an upper layer of the curanto, spread with

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

and nalca branches. Cooked in this way, the milcaos gain a dark crust and retain an essence of the leaves in their flavor. This preparation method is less common because of the complexity of preparing a curanto.Photo of milcaos de curanto
March 2012, retrieved 17 February 2013. *Milcados pelados (peeled milcaos) or Baemes: Milcaos that are boiled and eaten sweetened with honey or sugar. *Milcaos chuño (potato starch milcaos): Instead of using grated potatoes, dried

from previous preparations is used to make the milcaos. They are fried and have a golden crust and a pale center. If they are boiled they can also be eaten sweetened, like the ''milcaos pelados''.

Ingredients

Potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es or Chilote potatoes *

Lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

Vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

for frying * Chicharrones

References

{{pancakes Chilean cuisine Latin American cuisine Pancakes Potato dishes