Completo Chileno

The completo is a hot dog variation eaten in Chile, usually served with ingredients such as chopped tomatoes, avocados, mayonnaise, sauerkraut, salsa Americana, ají pepper and green sauce. It can be twice the size of an American hot dog.

The dish was first made in the 1920s in the fuentes de soda (soda fountains) of central Santiago. The completo was brought to Chile by Eduardo Bahamondes who had recently travelled to the United States on business. It was there that he first saw the "hot dog" which he decided to bring back to his home country. Once back in Chile, he then opened a restaurant in Santiago's historic centre called Quick Lunch Bahamondes where he began to introduce the Chilean people to the hot dog.

Throughout Chile, specific names are used to describe the different variations of completos:

Completo: Sometimes referred as completo-completo in order to differentiate it from the other variants, it's the most traditional version. Its ingredients include chopped tomatoes, mayonnaise (a large amount), sauerkraut and salsa americana.

Completo Italiano or simply Italiano: topped with chopped tomatoes, mashed avocados and mayonnaise, this variation is widely viewed as the most popular. The name comes from its resemblance with the colors of the Italian flag.

Dinámico ("Dynamic"): A mix of the aforementioned ingredients (tomatoes, avocados, mayonnaise and sauerkraut) or salsa Americana.

Completo A lo Pobre ("Poor man's completo"): Made with fried onion, french fries and a fried egg on top of the hot dog. The "poor man's" in the name is due to the fact that the main ingredients were ones historically favoured by low wage workers.

Tomate mayo ("Tomato-mayo"): As its name suggests, it is a version with only chopped tomatoes and mayonnaise.