Ecuadorian Food

We didn’t take a cooking class in Ecuador but I did learn lots about the food and the culture.

Food in Ecuador is very simple.

The most popular type of Ecuadorian food is almuerzos (lunch). Every town we went to had a food market where you could get some for $2.50. These meals consist of a soup, dry plate, and juice. The soups we tried were chicken, potato, and some beef tripe/intestine soup (Sopa de 31). They are all good, very simple but well seasoned and tasty.

The juice is also very fresh here. I have fried fruit juice from fruits I have never had before but its awesome. There’s also some with alfalfa included, which add a really nice flavour that’s hard to explain. Almost a different type of sweetness. It generally comes in a big jug, or a glass for breakfast.

After the soup, they give you the seco (dry plate), a large plate of food with rice, fries, and protein (chicken or fish) and a small salad. It’s always good.

Another popular meal is llapingachos. This comes with eggs, fried plantains, avocado, some sausage, and maybe some onion and tomato salad. Also a very good meal. The Ambato sausage is really flavorful.

One of the things I did not expect was how good the snacks, desserts, and pastries are.

In Baños, we had the best candy ever. I think Baños is known for their candy because there were candy shops everywhere, with people making a string candy outside of their shops. We bough some candy sticks and some little hard candies as well. The little candies we so delicious. The candies were different flavours and just lighter than other hard candy I have had.

In Cuenca, there are little dessert shops around and we stopped in one. There desserts are in the open and on display and they give you a basket and some tongs and you pick what ever you want and then they ring it up for you. All the desserts we got were so good. We don’t really know what any of them are though.

The restaurant scene in Ecuador consists of we would consider two types, hueca’s and tourist catered. Our favorite guide Edwin took us to many Hueca’s in Quito, and got to have a few different treats. One was a a delicious drink named Colada Morada, a seasonal hot spiced berry beverage, usually consumed leading up to Day of the Dead. There is also Pernil, which is just the leg meat from a pig or lamb, that gives a slightly stronger flavour.

The tourist restaurants are as you would expect, some basic international cuisine for too much money.

We also attended Huecafest is Quito, a celebration of many types of food. From here, we could confirm that meat is a huge part of Ecuador’s diet, alongside rice and beans. There were some really good alcohol filled candies that we had there, and some wonderful grilled meats.

The one thing we didn’t try in Ecuador is cui, or guinea pig. We saw some at the markets, they are unmistakable. We hope to try some in Peru, as they are part of the diet there as well.

Overall, I am happy with the food. Going into this trip, I knew nothing about South American food and now I know more than I could ever imaging. I am excited to see how Peruvian food and other food in South America differs.