Almuerzo, How I Love Thee

Because it is such a large part of my life here, I'm surprised I haven't written more about the food I eat. I think it's safe to say that the majority of my colleagues and I were initially unimpressed by Ecuadorian cuisine. And it's true, most of the dishes here are prepared with copious amounts of oil and salt. And starch. In the mountains, potatoes are eaten with most meals, and here on the coast anyone will tell you that it's not a real meal if it doesn't have rice. We're talking rice or potatoes three meals a day, people. No joke.

Anyway, eventually we (I'm taking the liberty of speaking for my entire training group) came to know various Ecuadorian dishes, appreciate them, and find our favorites among them. One reason I love living in the coastal region is that there is a bigger variety of food here (fact), and it's yummier than in the Sierra (opinion).

A word on almuerzo: Almuerzo is lunch, the biggest meal of the day. Whether you go to a restaurant or cook at home, a typical almuerzo includes soup, a "segundo" - a plate with something starchy, something meaty, and some kind of salad usually slathered in mayonnaise (also, noodles sometimes count as salad) - and a cup of fresh juice. On occasion, dessert is included as well. In Guayaquil, an almuerzo costs between $1.50-$2, and they're usually cheaper outside the big city.

I plan to write a lot more about Ecuadorian food on this here blog; it's too tasty to pass up. And, to whet your appetite, here's some pictures of delicious almuerzos, all of which were immediately devoured by yours truly as soon as the camera went click.

Some kind of delicious soup. Cow stomach in peanut sauce with rice and avocado. Papaya juice.

Some other kind of delicious soup. Crab salad with rice. Mango juice.

Llapingachos: fried potato patties with peanut sauce. Sortof like potato latkes? Fried egg on rice. Served with tomato and sausage.

Roasted chicken with potato puree, rice and tomato.

Lentil soup.

Freshly squeezed orange juice.

SECO DE POLLO. Chicken stew. Ubiquitous. Real yum.

Broccoli soup with popcorn.

Thin sliced, pan seared beef with lentils. Orange juice, fresh; always fresh.

Patacones, double-fried green plantains; green plantain soup; shrimp ceviche.

...Wow, some of these pics are from a year or more ago, but just thinking back on how delicious the meals were makes me salivate. Would it be wrong to write a Pledge of Almuerzo? I pledge almuerzo / to the flag / of the happiness of my stomach...