"Combine Bariloche's best scenic drive, biking near Lago Moreno, the Colonia Suiza market, and curanto - a unique regional food-"
The Circuito chico is one of the more traditional tours of Bariloche. The tour starts in the city of Bariloche and heads west from the city by the AV Bustillo bordering Lake Nahuel Huapi and at km 8 is Playa Bonita, from there you can see Huemul Island.
At km 17 is reached the foot of Cerro Campanario there operates a chairlift that moves people to the summit (1050m) from where we see one of the most beautiful views of the region. Following Bustillo Avenue passing zone San Pedro Peninsula at Km 25 is reached the Llao Llao area. There is the Chapel St. Edward regional architectural jewel, and on Lake Nahuel Huapi Scarf port where sailing excursions leave from Lake Nahuel Huapi.To the south a stunning view of Llao Llao Hotel framed by the Chapel Hill and Lopez. Continuing the way we pass by the hotel golf course, the narrow bridge between lakes Moreno and Nahuel Huapi in the Bay Lopez area.
Later we arrive at the entrance of Colonia Suiza where our bikes are waiting for us and we'll ride for about 5 km enjoying the beautiful landscape.
We reach Colonia Suiza where we are going to enjoy an excellent curanto prepared with dedication by local expert cooks. The town is sheltered by high hills and very old forests of cypresses and coihues. Little by little, we come across the first buildings, many of them made of wood and surrounded by domestic animals and sheds. Finally, we access the center of town, where a handicrafts market co-exists with a small square where local products are sold. They are separated by a street that is known to everyone as the main in town.
The Goyes
The first person we talk to is Nielsen “Gringo” Goye, who tell us about the history of this Andean town, its beginnings, its traditions and its famous curanto during an informal but very enjoyable chat.
Being a direct descendant of the first dwellers, he tell us how his grandparents had settled down in the area to give shape to a big family and what kind of tasks they performed. He says that many immigrants still live in this spot.
The first Swiss immigrants became established in the area in 1895, thus creating the first wood settlement that supplied this colony and the first building sites in the City of Bariloche. In turn, they devoted themselves to cultivating the land to produce barley, oats, rye and fine fruit. Many of them had lived in Chile before that, where they had acquired the ability to make curanto, a traditional dish on the Chilean coast.
Curanto without Seafood
Bearing in mind the difficulty to bring seafood from the Pacific behind the mountain range, some ingredients of the curanto were adapted according to the Argentinian taste, including beef, chicken and lamb.
“Curanto” is a word in the araucano language and it means “hot rock”. Gringo Goye himself invite us to the “ceremony” to learn about this particular way of cooking. The ingredients are waiting on a big table and everything was prepared on one corner of the barbecue area in order to light the fire.
Curanto is made inside a large shallow hole in the ground where thin coihue branches are placed and covered with rocks. The fire is lit and when the wood is consumed, the hot rocks fall to the bottom of the hole.
At that moment, the rocks are covered with maqui branches and the beef, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squashes, inner parts, cheese and apples are placed for cooking. Afterwards, everything is covered again with maqui leaves. Cloths and dirt is put on top and only a kind of side chimney is left open to make combustion easier.And the quietness is noticed again. It takes almost two hours to complete the cooking process.
In the meantime, we are going to enjoy a tour around the rest of the village watching that the present activities of the dwellers of Colonia Suiza are tightly connected with tourism: they offer a wide range of excellent gastronomy, pastry making in the tea-houses, craft brewed beers, smoked products and regional jams.
A small chapel, the Old Colonists Museum and some small beaches on Lake Perito Moreno are the main attractions in the surrounding areas. Likewise, its irrigation ditches still carry the meltdown water towards the lake.
Then, the task of uncovering the hole layer by layer begins. The ingredients have been cooked in an even way, with a peculiar taste similar to the traditional asado, magical and loaded with the value enclosed by this ritual passed on from generation to generation.
They arrange long tables near the fire so that everyone may take their dish and be ready to enjoy the delicious curanto in the company of local craft brewed beer.
After the meal we have some free time to visit the market or just walk or bike around and at 17.45 with the same calm with which we were welcomed, we can take the local bus and start our way back to the city, without any haste.
