Chile's everyday table sauce: a fresh, chunky relish of finely chopped onion, cilantro, garlic and ají, brightened with vinegar, oil and a little water. It sits on nearly every Chilean table, ready for bread, grilled meat or sopaipillas.
Pebre is the ubiquitous table relish of Chile — chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, chili and oil — set out with bread before a meal and spooned over grilled meat. Sharp and fresh, it is to the Chilean asado what salsa is to the parrilla.
Sharp, herbal and lively, it crackles with raw onion and floods the mouth with cilantro and a slow chili warmth. The vinegar makes it zing, the oil rounds it out, and a spoonful instantly lifts plain bread or rich grilled meat.
Rinsing the onion leaches out harsh sulfur compounds, leaving crunch without bite. Resting lets salt and acid draw juices from the aromatics so the flavors marry into a cohesive, vivid sauce rather than separate raw notes.
Variations
Pebre verde (cilantro-forward), pebre with mashed tomato, and a smooth pounded-ají version; alongside it sits its close cousin chancho en piedra, ripe tomato crushed with garlic and cilantro in a wide stone mortar for a coarser, juicier relish
On the Palate
Where Pebre sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 14 min
Finely dice the onion and rinse it briefly in cold water to soften its sharpness.
Watch outRinse the onion just till the raw sting is gone, then drain it well — leftover water dilutes the sauce and dulls the crunch.
- 23 min
Chop the cilantro leaves and tender stems finely.
- 33 min
Mince the garlic and the fresh ají chili, removing seeds for less heat.
- 41 min
Combine onion, cilantro, garlic and ají in a bowl.
- 51 min
Stir in red wine vinegar, olive oil and a splash of water.
- 61 min
Season with salt and, if you like, a little chopped tomato.
- 732 min
Let the pebre sit for at least 30 minutes so the flavors meld.
Watch outGive it a full half-hour rest — you'll see the onion and cilantro slump and pool a little juice, the sign the flavors have married.
- 81 min
Stir again and serve at room temperature with bread or grilled meat.
