Saturday, August 25, 2007

Eating in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

You don't find a lot of variety here, no imported foods, no fancy vinegars, no fine cheeses. On the other hand, it's about as local as you can get. Nearly everything is fresh, and nothing comes from more than 100 or so miles away; so you can get potatoes and onions and other cool climate foods from the highlands, along with the fresh shrimp and fish, cilantro, melons, and yuca from the coast.

Most people who come to visit here-the economy is largely supported by tourism-eat at the local restaurants. The most typical and commonly found food are "Bolones de Verde" and Empanadas de Verde. Bolones are made from plantains, and are kind of round ball, about ping-pong ball sized, often filled with cheese and deep fried. The empanadas are made by making a dough from green plantains, usually filled with cheese, then fried too. Arroz con Camaron or rice with shrimp, and rice with seafood are other common dishes. Then there's seafood stew, fish either breaded and fried or sauteed with lentils and rice, and fresh langoustines too, usually either sauteed with a garlic butter or sometimes with a mild coconut curry.

Two days back we picked up 5 pounds of fresh langoustines for $25, on the lower end of the price scale. Fishermen with buckets of fresh shrimp and langoustines often come through the neighborhood, portable scale in their pocket, and weigh it out right there for you. You have to peel and clean, but it's well worth the price. Yesterday we had fresh "picudo" tuna, I don't know the variety in English but it's a fairly pale colored tuna, for about $4 a pound. The other common fish here is Corvina, which I don't yet know what is in English. It's a mild, flaky white fish. Today we stopped at the ATM to get cash, and a guy in the street offered us fairly jumbo sized shrimp, about 12 to a pound, for $4/pound. I took them home and sauteed them in a little oil and butter, finished with some white wine, and served them with a risotto made with a stock from the shells we peeled off them.

For the adventurous and strong of stomach, you can get fresh ceviche, either shrimp of fish, right on the beach from the guys with the bicycle carts. To accompany your meal, you can get bottled beer right on the beach. Finally, to finish off your meal a number of guys, either with bicycle carts or some with motorized trikes, will sell you any variety of frozen ice creams from the Pinguino factory in Guayaquil, which distributes throughout the country and makes a run of the mill, but not fantastic, variety of ice creams and popsicles.

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