A Gastronomical Tour of Ecuador: Part 1

In Ecuador, all food is "rico, rico, rico"—delicious, rich. I find it impressive that I have not yet commented on food, as it is one of my great loves. If you have known me for a time, you know I love to:

• Talk about food--If you could choose only one condiment for burgers the rest of your life, what would it be? Best dish for a freezing night?
  
• Read about food (My favorite memoir staring menus of Parisian cafés —A Moveable Feast by F.Scott Fitzgerald)
• Devour movies featuring chow (Como Agua Para Chocolate, Chocolat, Julie and Julia, Babette’s Feast). Sidenote: I just discovered NYC Food Film Festival, "a multi-sensory experience where filmgoers are able to watch food films then sample the food portrayed in those films." I guess I can do the same thing with my laptop, a dvd, and a kitchen....
• Make a mess of the kitchen experimenting with new recipes from thefoodnetwork.com
• Photograph food (Whoops, I only have two photos from Thanksgiving 2008—the golden roasted turkey and vanilla ice cream melting on warm pumpkin pie)
• And of course, share a snack, meal, or drink with family and friends.
  

In Ecuador, the majority of lunches and dinners, consist of a meat or seafood dish, rice, perhaps a salad (finely cut iceberg lettuce with tomatoes and onions), and a glass of juice. For me, the shining star of main dishes on the coast is ceviche—either fish ceviche or shrimp ceviche. More on this citrus seafood grub later.

This past weekend, I went with my Ecuadorian family to their regular Sunday haunt—a large tented area in the sand next to La Boca, an ocean inlet resembling a mouth. After enthusiastically greeting familiar faces, we sat down and our chairs sank a bit into the sand. The kitchen is beside the tables. Huge pots of ceviche and frying fish and shrimp sizzled. A meal for three was eight bucks. Good fresh grub.

La Morcilla with Maduras

I am pretty eager to try just about anything. We ordered a few appetizers (read: I nodded that I would try anything). Within a few moments a plate of sausage and chifle (plátano chips) arrived at our table. After asking “Es carne? Es carne?” several times, I bit into the sausage. Still chewing, examining the savory flavor, I learned I was swallowing morcilla—cleaned cow intestine stuffed with rice, pig’s blood, and spices. Eek, I did not attempt to hold back my dislike for the idea of intestine. It was delicious, but one taste was enough! I stuck to chifle before my meal arrived ;-0