Completo italiano (Chilean hot dog with avocado, tomato & mayo)

The completo italiano has three toppings on the sausage inside the roll: mashed avocado (green), diced tomato (red) and mayonnaise (white). Those three colours reproduce the Italian flag exactly, which is the origin of the name. The italiano is Chile's most popular completo and is distinguished from the dinámico (which adds sauerkraut) and the completo a lo pobre (which adds a fried egg and chips) by its precise combination of those three ingredients — no additions.

The ideal avocado for a completo is ripe but still firm: press it gently with your thumb and it gives slightly without sinking. An over-ripe avocado turns fibrous and bitter; an under-ripe one cannot be mashed properly. To speed up ripening, store avocados at room temperature in a paper bag with a banana; the ethylene from the banana accelerates the process in 1-2 days. Once ripe, refrigerate and use within 1-2 days. When mashing, add salt immediately to enhance flavour and a drop of lemon juice to slow oxidation if you are not serving right away.

Sausage quality defines the completo. Choose a good-quality beef-and-pork sausage with a high meat content and minimal starch. Boiling is the traditional technique: the hot water heats the sausage evenly and the skin tightens to a satisfying snap. For extra flavour, you can finish the boiled sausage in a hot pan or on a griddle for 1-2 minutes to brown the skin. Size matters: the sausage should fit neatly in the roll without protruding too much.

The completo roll is a soft, elongated bun with a light, slightly sweet crumb — similar to a hot dog bun but fluffier. Outside Chile, a standard soft hot dog bun is the closest substitute; choose the softest one available. A marraqueta (crusty bread roll) split lengthwise can also be used, though its firmer crust changes the balance of the dish. The key is that the bread is soft enough to hold the sausage and toppings without falling apart: the crumb absorbs the juices without turning gummy.

The classic italiano uses only avocado, tomato and mayonnaise. From that base come popular variants: the dinámico adds sauerkraut to the three italiano toppings; the completo a lo pobre tops everything with a fried egg and chips. For extra flavour, yellow mustard can be spread in the roll under the sausage, along with ketchup or finely chopped green chilli. At the September Fiestas Patrias ramadas (food stalls), completos made with homemade mayonnaise stand apart from those made with the commercial kind.