Cazuela

Cazuela (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈθwela]) is the common name given to a variety of dishes, specially from South America. It receives its name from the cazuela (Spanish for cooking pot) in which is cooked. The ingredients and preparation vary from region to region, but it is usually a mid-thick flavoured stock obtained from cooking several kinds of meats and vegetables mixed together.

Chilean cazuelas

Chilean cazuela

The cazuela is a typical dish of Chile. The most common types are made of chicken or beef, but there's also other types made from pork and turkey.

One typical dish of Chilean cazuela contains a piece of meat (it can be a piece of rib or several pieces of bones, in the case of beef, or a leg of chicken), a potato, a piece of pumpkin, and the stock obtained from boiling all of them together. These are sometimes complemented with cooked rice (in the stock), small-sized noodles, green beans, celery, sliced carrots, garlic, cabbage, among others. In summer the cazuela is accompanied by a piece of sweetcorn, cooked apart or in the same stock.

The cazuela is typically eaten by consuming the liquid stock first, then eating the meat and larger vegetables (e.g. potatoes, large piece of squash or carrot) last. However, the meat and larger vegetables can also be sliced up within the liquid stock and can be eaten simultaneously with the liquid stock.

The Chilean cazuela is related to the olla podrida, a colonial dish of similar characteristics, but it also shares roots with a Mapuche stock called "korrü".