Chicken Soup for the Adventurous Soul

I’ve been looking forward to sharing the curiosities of cooking and eating at restaurants here with you. First, a few details about a unique bowl of soup: 

Jay and I had lunch in Puyo (Pooh – YO), a town the size of Norfolk, about 10 minutes away. Most city blocks have a small restaurant where almuerzo is served. Almuerzo (al-moo-err-zoe) is the feature meal of the lunch hour. Most customers order this however you can order off a menu, too.

At a simple restaurant it includes soup, rice w/meat and gravy and a glass of juice blended that morning for $1.75-2.50. A nicer restaurant would add a salad and something small for dessert for another dollar. The picture above was $3.50.

As we settled down to eat our soup, I dug in and brought up a spoon of … Well, what was it???

I asked Jay.

“Chicken trachea,” he said.

Hmm. I placed the item in question on my saucer.

Next spoonful, same question.

“Think that’s part of a chicken foot,” he responded with a growing smile.

            ****I know I took a picture of this culinary adventure.... sorry I can't find it!!!! ****

I think I fished out a couple more parts that aren’t usually eaten in the States… in anything other than hotdogs, that is. : ) But the broth and rice was good. Yes, I’m an adventurous soul when it comes to food. I am thankful that it is optional here to eat or not eat the chicken feet. That brings me to my first chicken purchase at the meat tienda…

I brought it home and had a surprise. The head and feet were intact, tucked into the body so that I didn’t notice it at the market. Jay happened home about then and took care of the extra carving on my bird. Since then I’ve learned to ask the butcher to keep the head and feet.

Here’s a nice surprise at the butcher's – lomo fina, a beef cut that includes filet minion, is $2.50 a pound. Ground beef is $1.50. Chickens are $4 or $7 by size.

 

 Jayson on bags of rice at the military commissary. It has the best prices in Shell.

  

Some of you know or perhaps remember how flour was sold in fabric bags during the depression which would be sewn into clothes. Flour is still sold that way here or in plastic bags. I don’t think paper bags would hold up in the humidity or with pests.

There are several more fruits here: maracuya (passion fruit), mora (very large raspberry), taxo, papaya, granadilla, mandarina, and boboka (bah-bay-KAH). 

In this picture I'm holding a boboka for juice. When it is soft to the touch, cube it, blend, add sugar and enjoy. The flavor is similar to, but better than, star fruit. Notice the sink full of water and produce... everything must be soaked in a germ-killing solution before we eat it.
 

Jayson and a tank of fresh tilapia for sale on the street.

Dane and Jayson at a roadside tienda selling local produce. Mandar

inas hang in bags in the upper right corner.

 
As for vegetables, there are several produce tiendas but I like to shop on Saturday at the small farmers market where there are often five vendors in one place. 

Farmers Market

Their offering includes:

yellow potatoes – These are grown higher in the mountains. It’s too wet here.        

radishes                               

tomates                      I’ve included a few Spanish spellings.

tree tomates for juice.  Not tasty in my opinion.

carrots – called zanahoria. That’s a mouthful. They are soooo large and so good here.

green beans – and several other larger beans. Some are toxic if you don’t soak them enough. No, I’m not that adventurous.

peas – large, very hard, only for soup

field corn - They grill it.

Swiss chard, garlic, onions,

fresh herbs: parsley, oregano, chamomile for tea, lemon grass

head lettuce (very wilted)

cucumbers

not as many peppers as you would think

turnips, beets, parsnips

platano (starch banana, used like potatoes)

cabbage, coliflor, brocoli

 yucca root – Very good when fried like potatoes.

Apples and pears are imported from Chile.

Limons, oranges, banano and grapefruit grow on our compound.

Bananas hanging in our carport.

There are more than 100 bananas in that bunch. Very heavy. Each banana comes from its own bloom. If you ever find a bit of brown shriveled stuff on the tip of a banana, that's the remainder of the bloom. The bunches are cut down while they are green to save them from the birds. Then the tree is cut down and the root sends up another shoot.

Turned the corner on main street to find two boxes of fresh - still moving - crabs.

Cubed sugar cane. Taste: pretty much just like sugar water. As you chew the juice out of the cane, you are left with a mouth full of fiber which has the consistency of dry cardboard. Sugar cane grows well here. .You can find many forms of sugar in the store including brown cylinders of it that you would have to cut to measure. I'm not sure how that is used.

That's a hodge-podge of Ecuadorian food and shopping info. Hope you enjoyed it. Want to sample it? Come visit!