Many foreigners imagine that Latin American cuisine is spicy, but Chilean food, on the whole, is extremely bland: salt, vinegar, mayonnaise, and more salt are the four basic condiments. Black pepper is conspicuously absent, and not only from the food - it is also rarely available even on request.

I wrote '33 Men' in eight weeks. Not only was it a combination of simultaneously writing and interviewing, but as I dug deeper into the miners' story, I found the key to their success was the ability to place their individuality on the back burner and bring forward the sense of a collective group responsibility.

Vegetarians are doomed in the Chilean street-food scene, though if they are willing to ingest small quantities of lard, they can enjoy the ever-popular squash, salt and lard biscuits known as sopaipillas.

Jonathan Franklin Quotes