FOOD!

I think this week I'm gonna share with y'all a little about the food in Ecuador. For those of you who don't know, Ecuador is divided into three regions, the coast, the sierra (where I live) and the jungle. Each region has its own unique cuisine, and I'm only talking about the sierra, as that's all I have experience with.

Starting the day we have breakfast, which is really a sad event here. If there is one thing I miss about home, its the huge breakfast feasts we had at our house. I could kill for grits, eggs, sausage with biscuits. But oh no, not here! The normal thing to eat is 1 hard boiled egg or a piece of bread with little cheese. This is usually served with a delicious homemade juice and coffee. A common juice is tomate de arbol (tree tomato) which does not really taste like tomato at all, but it is red and thick. For me, the juice is the only saving grace at breakfast. But here comes the really tragic part about breakfast: always served with instant coffee. Although Ecuador produces some of the world's best coffee, they generally export it all the USA, and drink the horrible powdered stuff. Needless to say, one of my first purchases here was an espresso macchinetta (my French press didn't make it here all in one piece). So that's how we (unsatisfactorily) start the day.

Moving on to lunch and dinner. Both are generally the same, although there is a long lunch hour here and its generally the larger of the two meals. Lunch is always started with a soup of some sort, which for those of you who know me well, know how much I adore a good soup. They usually aren't too hardy and here are some of the best ones according to my taste:
*Creama of papa- basically cream of potato soup
*Encebollado- made with various fish flakes in a light veggie stock
*Sopa de locro- a heartier stew with meat, veggies and unknown yummy spices
*Sopa de quinoa- quinoa is an oat, smaller than Quaker oats, but with a stronger flavor
*Rebanado de verde- Very typical. Its made with large, green, non-sweet bananas

Then comes the second platter. Its always served with white rice, and usually some potato variety or yucca. I never really cared for plain white rice much, and now I can't stand the site of it. I have eaten more here, in these few months, than in my entire life! But I digress. There're usually limited vegetables served, although I do get carrots or beets every now and then. Lastly, here are some of the better main dishes:
*Guatita- bits of cow stomach in a potato, peanut sauce
*Fritada- fried pork served with boiled mote (similar to hominy)
*Bolones- the green banana smashed into balls, stuffed either with a bit of meat or cheese then fried
*Salchipapas- french fries served with deep-fried hotdogs

Unlike Mexican food though, Ecuadorian food is generally bland and not at all spicy. Luckily, however, every meal comes with aji. Now this is possibly my favorite thing of all Ecudorian food! Its a spicy sauce made from blended tomates de arboles, aji (the native hot pepper), and cilantro. I go through bowls of this stuff every meal!

As far as acquiring the ingredients to make these foods, most people do their fruit and veggie shopping on market day, so they are usually fresh, not canned or frozen.. Market day in Riobamba is Saturday, and its a crazy free-for-all; an attraction in its own right! There are vendors crowding the streets, shouting their prices and selections, trying to outdo their neighbors. Also, haggling is expected, something which I've gotten progressively better at. One of my favorite things is to buy everything from the same lady then ask for a yapa (gift) to guarantee I'll return to her next week. So far I've managed to get for free a tomato, avocado, bunch of cilantro, 5 ajis and a small bunch of bananas. Not too bad for a white boy!

And that's a day in the life of Ecua-food!