white food. it is white.

I have gotten very into “comida típica” in Ecuador. Comida típica, or typical food, is advertised anywhere that isn´t full of gringos as well as places that are full of gringos—which poses the question, “where is it not advertised?” (Or as an Ecudorean would ask ¿Where is it not advertised?) The answer is nowhere. I know what you are now thinking….a double negative and a pointless paragraph. Well if you made it this far, you might as well keep going. J

Typical Ecuadorean food for me is a typical Ecuadorean lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Ecuador (like in Iran…it is pretty much in my blood to love big lunches). It often consists of a soup, a main dish, desert, and juice (sopa, entrada, postre, y jugo…pretty unnecessary to translate, but I am still getting used to typing in english again).

Sopa
OMG. The soup is awesome. I love soup. There are so many different kinds of soup, but surprisingly (not so surprisingly) potatoes will always find their way into the dish. Unfortunately, lately I have been having a lot of warm…NOT HOT…but warm soups. It is especially bothersome when it is actually pretty cold outside (at my current placement we often eat lunch outside).

Entrada
At my other placement I have been eating a lot of vegetarian food. Vegetarian food is by no means típica. An entrada típica includes a little piece of meat (for you Canadians it is probably the proper size of meat as recommended in the Canadian Food Guide J), about 50-60% white rice, potatoes, and some salad. The salad component of the dish has between 1 and 3 different kinds of veggies and no dressing. The overall breakdown of your plate is most commonly 10% meat (protein), 10 vegetables (vegetables), 25% potatoes (starchy carbs), and 55% rice (carbs). You may often get some ají or hot sauce to add some flavour to your dish. If you do not get that, your dish will definitely have the typical spice of a typical meal. In Canada we call it salt.

Postre
This often does not exist. The times I have gotten a postre it was either fruit, sometimes fresh but often canned, or ritz crackers with jam.

Jugo
MMMmm. The juice is awesome. It is always made with fresh fruit, water, and about as much white sugar as fruit. Yikes. Just add it to your plate of salt, potatoes, and rice.

Bon apetit….¡Provecho!