Street Vendor · Rainy-Day Fry

Sopaipillas

Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

Chileans have a saying — 'sopaipillas cuando llueve' (sopaipillas when it rains) — because street vendors traditionally fire up the fryer whenever the weather turns wet.

Discs of dough made with pumpkin or squash puree are deep-fried until golden and puffed, then sold hot from roadside carts and stalls, either plain, dusted with sugar, or drizzled with chancaca, a spiced syrup. Vendors fry them fresh in open pans right on the sidewalk.

Why it's made this way: The pumpkin dough and simple frying method made sopaipillas a cheap, warming snack vendors could cook to order over a portable burner, which is why the dish is so strongly tied to cold or rainy weather in Chile.