Comida Sobre Ruedas with Brother Donald

Each Wednesday morning I walk 15 minutes to La Parroquia San Roque where I work in a program called Comida Sobre Ruedas, or Meals on Wheels. This program, started and run by Brother Donald, prepares and delivers food to the elderly who are too poor and/or unable to cook nutritious meals by themselves.

My day begins around 9:00am when I take a look at the day’s menu. It is a bit overwhelming at first. Everything is in Spanish (duh) and everything is in large quantities. The description of “large quantities” is not an adequate description when you realize that the recipes are designed to cook food for 50 people. Also, most of the ingredients are listed in weighted measurements and here in Chile, the metric system is used. It is not uncommon to find 12 kilos of carrots, 4 kilos of celery, 900 grams of onion, and 600 ml of broth for a recipe, and that is just for the soup. Thus, my major task within the first few weeks at Brother Donald’s kitchen was learning how to read the recipe and use the scale.

In Chile, the largest meal of the day is lunch, so each meal involves a main dish, a side dish, soup, salad, and bread. Luckily, the tasks are divided among 4 Chilean women, Brother Donald, and me. I have made the soup, the main dish, the salad, the salad dressing, and one time, even the bread –an important, honorable, and rare task in our kitchen that usually only Brother Donald does. Nevertheless, each woman has their favorite; Anna usually likes to make the main dish and the soup, Angelica the salad and side dish (rice or potatoes), Carmen washing the dishes we create, and Magdalena and I chop all the vegetables in preparation for the next day. Cooking everything is a 5 hour task that results in a well-balance and nutritious meal for each of the 45 meals on wheels recipients.

Yesterday, the menu was the following (recipe pictured above):

Merluza a la Cacerola: Baked Hake (fish) served with a tomato and onion sauce flavored with red wine

Arroz con lentejas y zanahorias: Rice with lentils and carrots

Ensalada de Repollo: Cole Slaw

Sopa de Albondigas: Clear chicken broth soup made with large potato chunks, celery, carrots, with golf ball sized meatballs (I LOVED THIS)

Pan de Bollos Baker House: the title of the recipe for fresh baked bread

The delivery of the food is a system in itself. Each recipient is assigned a number and their meals are placed within the containers that correspond to the number. Main and side dishes are placed in insulated containers to keep the food warm, soups are placed in thermoses, salads in small Tupperware bowls, and bread in a small brown bag. Not only is it organizational, but helps if someone is allergic or does not favor a certain food and an alternate meal can be provided. Thus, Thermos #17 and insulated container #17 go into box #17 with a salad and bread. This box is delivered to recipient #17, Abuela Lucia on Tobalaba Street, by a volunteer couple Paula and Jaime.

The day is not done yet. While Paula and Jaime deliver the food, we enjoy ourselves by eating the food we prepared. The hard work is rewarded by simply great food. (In my mind, there is no reason to say I do not eat in Chile, especially when I work at Brother Donald’s kitchen.) During this time we chat about anything and everything, as most do during their lunch breaks. I have learned about the lives of the women I have become close to and they have learned about mine. This time with them has become as important to my experience here in Chile as the work that I do.

After washing the dishes from lunch, the morning volunteers leave and the afternoon volunteers arrive. As an Associate, I volunteer to work both the morning and afternoon shifts. The afternoon group brings two women, Chalita and Rosita, as fast at talking as they are washing the dishes. Sometimes I have to ask these women two or three times to repeat what they have said to me because their Spanish is so fast and hard to understand, which is always a good laugh after the meaning finally becomes clear.

Around 3:00pm, Paula and Jaime return to the Parroquia with dishes received the food delivered the day before. Taking lids off containers and off Thermoses, we place each in their own separate tub to be washed. Then, Chalita and Rosita go to the kitchen to begin the task of washing each of the total 350 items. I volunteered once to help wash and as I helped they complained that I was just too slow. I said I was being extra precautious to make sure it was clean and sanitized. They handed me a towel and told me to wait, I would be “la secadora experta” or, expert dryer. “Are they patronizing me?” I thought. Yes, yes they were. But our system works, and before you know it, all the dishes are cleaned, organized, and placed in the storage cabinet to be used the next day. It is 4:15pm and time to go home.

That’s life for me each Wednesday as I work for Comida Sobre Ruedas in Brother Donald’s kitchen. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to cook again for just 5 people instead of the 50 that I have become accustomed to. Regardless, Wednesday has become one of my favorite days of the week and it just keeps getting better and better. Oh…and did I mention that I get to home leftovers if there are any? BONUS!