Day 9: Erica, Va Comer!

Experiencing different cultures, means experiencing different foods! I'm sooooo glad that the food in Ecuador is very tasty. I'll share my food experience by breaking it up into meals....

Desayuno (Breakfast): Everyday for breakfast Hilda or Rodrigo give me fresh fruit, bread, eggs, and juice. The fruit is always very fresh...like they just went and picked it themselves. There's always fruit available in the kitchen.We have papaya, watermelon, strawberries, many different types of bananas, different types of tomatoes, pineapple, oranges, and apples. The general rule is that people who are traveling should only eat fruits that need to be peeled because fruits that are washed with the tap water could cause diarrhea...So I've been a little afraid to try the strawberries. The fruit juice is also fresh and made from the same fruits they keep in the kitchen. Sometimes they add a cereal to the juice that you can't really taste. I think its suppose to add nutrients. So far I've had tomato juice (not like V8...its very tasty and sweet.), pineapple juice, and lemonade made with the cereal.

Almuerzo (Lunch): This is the largest meal of the day....which I'm still adjusting to. Everyday I get full before I finish all of my food. I've learned to say "Estoy llena" or "I'm full" very well. For lunch every day there is soup. The soups that Hilda makes are sooo delicious. I can't remember the names of any of them at the moment, but look out for pictures and names in the entries to come. After soup there is the main course. Usually there is some type of meat. My favorite so far has been "pollo con salsa de tomate". Along with the meat vegetables are served. Hilda makes a tomato and avocado salad that I really like. In fact I told her that I like avocado and she had put some on my plate for every meal! Also rice is served every day. One lunch I enjoyed was this past Wednesday when Hilda made "chiclas". They where chips made out of bananas....salted just perfectly. They were just what I needed as I was starting to miss the salt from my American diet. We've also had toasted maize...which is kind of like popcorn...but not really. And not that its super Ecuadorian...but they make great garlic bread. Its not the type you buy from the freezer section though. They mix the butter, garlic, and oregano and make it themselves. 

Cena (dinner): Dinner is very light. It usually consist of tea and some type of bread. The first day I got here Hilda took me to another city to buy a very popular sweet bread that we had for dinner that night. My favorite dinner so far has been rice tortilla. It was kind of like a pancake made of rice and veggies with meat mixed in. It was excellent with a bit of ketchup (a trick I learned from their grandson, Juan Jose.) If you know me, you know I love hot tea. So I've really enjoyed having a cup of tea every night. I've had manzanilla con miel, peach tea, and horchata tea. The horchata tea is not like the sweet rice drink that I've had at Anna's Taqueria. Its more like an herbal tea that taste great with lemon and sugar.

My list of foods to try includes: Something from the panderia (bakery) that I walk pass every day on my way home for lunch. It smells sooooo good.

And fried chicken and baked beans from the fried chicken joint....its called "pollo horno" or "box chicken".

Hope I didn't make you too hungry!
EP<3