¡La Comida! (Food!)

Food, cibo, comida… there is no universal word to describe the stuff that keeps us going and brings us together, but there are universal motions and, as different as tastes may be, there are those smells that make our mouths water and stomachs grumble. Some smells may make us sick while others make us ravenous. A plate might attract all of your senses with its savory smells and promising flavors. Or it may just want you to turn away in disgust as you ask yourself, “who could ever eat that?” Still you may see a plate in front of you and eat it not because it’s delicious, but because it’s what you were served and perhaps it’s even free. Here I will finally share my experiences of Ecuadorian food. As I made a list from my notes in my journal, I realized that I probably cannot talk about each of the foods I would like to mention, but we’ll see how far I can get. 

 

As I’ve mentioned before there is a much greater culinary diversity on the mainland compared to the islands where we depend largely on the supply boat that comes about every other week to bring in peanut butter and fresh avocados (and occasionally whole cows). On the mainland, however, there was a general abundance of diversity although there are plenty of places that also lack options whether this shortage was due to being in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest or poverty. The absolute first thing I was served in Quito was locro around 10:00 pm just after my plane had landed and my host mom and I were awkwardly getting to know each other. Locro is a hearty potato soup sometimes with a few other vegetables thrown in. It’s very common but since I never had soup at night, I may have eaten locro one or two other times at the university during lunch.

My breakfasts in Quito were actually similar to my breakfasts on the island. I would have a bowl of fruit with granola and some bread and juice. A few times I got pancakes or French toast, particularly after I gave my host mom her gift of maple syrup and maple candy. On the islands for breakfast I get an egg, some form of bread, sometimes cereal or granola, and generally a bowl of fruit that often is watermelon and occasionally is delicious papaya. I don’t think I had ever tried papaya until I came here and it has easily become my favorite fruit.

The most diverse thing that is unanimously missed from Cumbayá and Quito are the jugos (juices). We still enjoy different jugos on the islands, but some are served more often than others and it depends on how long ago the supply boat was here. I have had maracuya (passion fruit), naranjilla, naranja (orange), tomato de arbo (tree tomato, not what we consider a tomato), sandía (watermelon), melon (cantaloupe), limonada (lemonade), frutilla (strawberry), piña (pineapple), manzana (apple), mora (raspberry) and pera (pear). Watermelon juice after a run on a hot day is the most amazing beverage. Somehow I manage to drink cantaloupe juice even though I cannot yet bring myself to enjoy the fruit.
As far as I remember, being vegetarian on the mainland was not that much of a problem. 

 

Vegetarianism is not nearly as bad a dietary restriction as lactose intolerance. I do still eat fish, which I think makes it easier on my host mom on the islands to feed me as I get fish for dinner almost every night, but here I only occasionally have chicken. The lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is both difficult to explain and can be bad if, for example, soup happens to have cream in it and no one thinks to tell me this. Being a vegetarian (ok, technically I’m a pescatarian) on the islands is a completely different story. Aside from restaurants not always having vegetarian options or not understanding what it means to take the meat out of a dish, there has also been a couple of occasions where it is forgotten that there are 5 vegetarians in the group. On our first trip to Kicker Rock, there were no vegetarian lunches so we ate watermelon and bananas. On Santa Cruz the restaurant was trying to serve everyone a pasta dish that had a sauce with meat in it. I have also had an instance at my favorite restaurant on San Cristóbal where the owner gave us all juice but it was really a batido (milkshake).

Although remote places can be limited in their food due to lack of access, the eco-lodge that we stayed at in Maquipucuna also did their own organic farming and were able to offer us some really different and really delicious meals. Supposedly the coffee was very good there as well. As I’ve heard it, the coffee is supposed to be better on the mainland than on the islands. In Maquipucuna I had yucca for the first time as well as quimbolitos, which are delicious breakfast tamales. We also had this interesting cold oatmeal, creamy breakfast and brownies for dessert one night that I remember being good. The vegetarian options here were quite interesting as we normally received some form of meat substitute, the last of which tasted like soggy croutons. 

 

The food in Tiputini was also really good even though they have to bring in their supplies through the same traveling system we took to get there. Apparently the same set of meals is used in rotation so if you were to work there for several months the food might get hold but since their repetoire has at least 5 options for each meal, we experienced something new every day. I’m sure I’ve already mentioned granadilla, which is an interesting member of the passion fruit family that you crack kind of like an egg and slurp the slime covered seeds out of the inside. Those were always out during the day along with whole mangos, apples, crackers and cookies. The meals that are worth noting from my Amazon adventure are the quinoa patties that we had for lunch one day and the tacos that we were able to make ourselves. I think I liked the tacos so much because guacamole is so wonderful. Even imitation guacamole can improve a meal. Avocados are another fruit that I have come to love alongside papaya.
I think Tiputini may have been the first place that I had patacones as well. Patacones are squished pieces of plantain fried and topped with cheese if they are eaten as their own dish or on top of rice plain if they’re just a part of the meal. As much as I have come to love patacones and am determined to make them every so often in the states, I fear that they may be messing with my digestive system whenever I eat them. I haven’t determined if it’s the patacones or the watermelon that has been giving me intestinal cramps, but either way, it’s not so bad that I can’t function so for now I’m not worried. Since my host mom doesn’t give me any lactose products, if I get patacones for breakfast (desayuna) or even sometimes for dinner (cena) I am also given an omelet that cut up and on top of the patacones is delicious.

Speaking of the banana family, another delicious dish is fried maqueño. Maqueño is another type of banana type fruit. The first time I had these in Cumbayá I devoured them. They are very sweet and the way my host mom cooked them made them moist whereas patacones are very dry. However, maqueños quickly became unappetizing to me although I have no real reason for this switch to occur. A bolón is a fairly common breakfast or lunch (almuerzo) also made of plantains. It is a ball of fried (or possibly otherwise cooked) plantain along with cheese, bacon, and other things. The ones that I’ve had at my home-stay are solely made with plantains since I basically don’t eat bacon or cheese. I think one time they might have been combined with peanut butter. Maduros are made from plantains that are fried and split open to insert cheese inside. This is a dish that I haven’t tried and probably won’t because of the cheese. What I have tried and am also determined to eat at home are chocolate covered frozen bananas. The one that I ate had tasteless chocolate, but frozen fruit is delicious, particularly in the weather of tropical islands. There is also possibly the best banana bread I have ever had in a small bakery on Isabela. Sometimes we get banana bread as a dessert, but more often it is just a bowl or piece of fruit. 

 

Another common product of Ecuador is the potato. There are a lot of different types of potatoes around although I don’t know if I’ve really experienced the diversity of this crop. Aside from the locro, my host mom (Cecilia) on the mainland also fed me potato pancakes for dinner that generally had tuna within them. On the islands we are often given French fries along side rice for dinner. The French fries that my host mom (Flora) on the island makes are really good. I probably like these the most because they are skinny and crunchy, but I still miss sweet potato fries. In general, I get some form of potato for dinner from Flora. Most often I get a mixture of green beans, carrots, and potatoes for my vegetable portion although I also get string cucumber and tomato in lemon juice.

Corn and its varieties are also common in Ecuadorian cuisine. Before coming to Ecuador, I did take out a few books from the library and read about traditional Ecuadorian food and culture at least a little. That is how I first learned that Ecuadorians eat guinea pig (which I will probably not try on this trip) and that popcorn is common in Ecuador. If soup is served, a bowl of popcorn is generally on the table. The popcorn goes into the soup and is actually a nice touch. There are also toasted popcorn kernels, although I’m not sure if that snack is as common on the islands as it is in the sierra of the mainland. There are also two dishes that I’ve had that I can’t entirely distinguish from one another. Choclo is apparently corn kernels and mote (pronounced mo-tay) is a variety of grains. In Ecuador, mote is a common dish from the Cuenca area, where Cecilia grew up. Sometimes it’s combined with potatoes and other grains and cheese and whatever else the chef feels like putting in it. Another interesting cultural food is corn on the cob slathered with mayonnaise and sprinkled in cheese. This is something that one of my friends had at a restaurant. Mayonnaise is a very common condiment that people put on a lot of things here or will mix with ketchup and put on things. 

 

Of course, probably the most common food at least on the islands is rice in some form or another. By that I mean most of the time I get white rice with vegetables and fish or some slight variation. However, sometimes we get the vegetables mixed into the rice. I’m surprised that I am actually growing a little tired of having white rice all of the time. Maybe if I had some garlic and onion powder to add some flavor I would be happy. There is ají here, the hot sauce that I’ve mentioned before, but I don’t like spicy so I haven’t had the ají, which is supposed to make rice delicious. I still enjoy a plate of good white rice, I just feel that most often the rice is old or dry. Rice with beans or some form of lentil soup is very common. Another way to make rice more flavorful is by mixing the runny yolk of a fried egg into it. At least I am learning some really cheap and simple meals to feed myself at my apartment, particularly during the school year when I’ll have very little time to cook. 

 

I’ve certainly never had so many types of fish before coming here. The fish that I eat here is also simply different from the types of fish that I have at home. There is a fish that tastes exactly like chicken and tuna is common here. The first night I was served lobster and I have had shrimp twice. I won’t say that I’m starting to like shrimp, but I certainly am able to eat it. I should know more about the types of fish that are caught around here for consumption, but I can’t really remember specific names. I do know that fishing is no longer sustainable all over the world as blue fin tuna has almost become extinct and cod was fished to local extinction in Canada years ago. There are also problems with black market items such as sea cucumber, which is seen as an aphrodisiac, shark fins, and even sea lion penises also seen as an aphrodisiac. As it is, the fishermen and sea lions do not get along as the fishermen of the islands believe the sea lions are stealing their catch and therefore their profit. Some of the fishermen will shoot sea lions. This controversy is just one of many on the subject of developing a community and increasing tourism to the Galápagos.

There are other delicious dairy foods that I try to not eat or simply cannot eat. Empanadas are folded over fried dough with a slap of cheese inside that are delicious with sugar on top. There is a woman we have deemed the “empanada lady” who makes really good empanadas and you can pile the sugar on top as much as you can. But I think the best empanadas that I’ve had are the ones that Cecilia’s maid cooked one Friday. Part of the difference is probably the good cheese that exists on the mainland compared to the lack of cheese here. Then there is tres leches (which means three milk). This is a soggy cake that I have tried but basically cannot even touch because there is too much dairy involved. It is also very sweet, which keeps some other people from eating it as well.

Since this entry is probably bordering on being way too long to talk about food this much, I will end with tea. I miss the variety of tea at home and the teas that I had grown accustomed to drinking almost every day. I sleep a lot more here so I suppose I don’t need the caffeine of black teas, which I get every once in awhile. Flora does serve me tea with almost every dinner. For the first 2 months I was always having anise tea, which I was weary of but actually really enjoy. Anise is also good for one’s digestive system so I appreciate having it after dinner, even if Ecuadorians don’t use as a digestive. When I was sick in Quito I was given cendrón tea and my friends have been given oregano tea here. As a general dinner tea I have also had manzanilla (chamomile) tea and canela (cinnamon) tea. Cinnamon tea is very sweet and interesting to drink by itself, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad.

 

Okay, I lied, I want to mention a few things that I miss in the states and cannot wait to cook and eat. The first one will not surprise anyone, but it is macaroni and cheese, with garlic powder and maybe some cucumbers and tomatoes thrown in. I’m really excited for making different breakfasts such as French toast, waffles, even small things like a toasted bagel. I miss pumpernickel bread and bread that is not sweet in general. I haven’t had hummus since Cumbayá and hummus is a large part of my diet in Vermont. Whenever I don’t feel well I want to go on a search for rice cakes but know that I will not find them anywhere. Despite all of the delicious fruit here, I do miss good pears and nectarines. I also miss places such as Panera Bread, the Skinny Pancake, which is a crêpe restaurant in Vermont, and 7 moons, which is an Asian restaurant in Rhode Island.

I still really, really appreciate the beauty and wonder of these islands, despite the frustration that comes with not being able to fully understand the language or the culture. However, I am very excited to go home and see everyone and eat foods to which my stomach is accustomed. I don’t entirely know what to think from time to time as my time left on the islands dwindles to less than 2 weeks and soon after I will be on a plane traveling 3,000 miles back to New England. 

Before I forget, I don’t have pictures of all of these foods for you to investigate, but I do have some random pictures from around town (which can be enlarged by clicking on them). The first picture is actually of the giant supply boat that goes back and forth between the archipelago and the mainland. The supply boat is the really large boat in the background of the picture. The second picture is of some dogs that live above the dive shop where we received our certification. They like to just look at people but really don't like when other dogs are around. Seeing dogs on balconies and even roofs around here is not uncommon. The next picture is of a hermit crab that I saw when I was sitting watching the surf on Playa Mann one day. The fourth picture is of some sea lions playing at la Pedrial in the morning. This picture really encompasses their behavior towards each other and in general. The next picture is of some graffiti that I thought was well done over at la Pedrial as well. There is some form of abandoned structure there. And this last picture shows a man-made dock in the bay that is over halway between Playa Mann and la Pedrial that sea lions cover almost all of the time. They don't like these structures when it is raining out, but otherwise there are always a lot of loud, smelly lobos marinos hanging around.

I hope all is well at home for everyone!