ECUADOR, exciting!!! bananas…

We found the best pineapple in Costa Rica and the best bananas in Ecuador, different kinds and very economical, you can buy an entire bunch of bananas for 25 cents of an American dollar; hard to believe but true.

Shenandoah Pie Shop.

Being sick requires some medication and a sweet pie my doctor may say… This small coffee shop has amazing pies, perhaps I would not ride for 45,000 kilometres to get one but I would for sure ride 1000 kilometres. They have all kinds of pies from blueberries (meriños are called in Ecuador), strawberries, chocolate to new weird species for us like babaco which looks like papaya but it is not.

Prices are quite reasonable for something that we cannot always cook ourselves in this journey: $1.5 USD for a big piece.

The owner recently opened another shop in Quito and we may stop by to ensure my cold is gone.

Strawberry pie.

The owner, Brian and Deya.

Chocolate pie.

Mercado 24 de Mayo.
In this market you can find anything you need from fresh juice to vegetables/fruits and prepared food.

We started our visit through the market with a fresh juice made out of sweet grass, carrots and oranges for $1 USD. Again this is something we cannot really prepare ourselves and although fresh fruit is better than fresh juice, juice is enjoyable.

Brian had a plato mixto which includes salad, baked pork meat with small organs (which I don’t like), Ecuadorian tortillas (they look more like a perogie) and sausages (with herbs and veggies). The dish costs $2 USD.

I had a simpler dish for $1 USD which included: spaghetti, rice, potatoes, carrots, lettuce and one fried egg. Perhaps not the healthiest but for sure traditional.

Beef ribs.
Beef is not the kind of meat I prefer but this time we found a deal on beef ribs and we got them. The cost of the dish does not go over $5 dollars and we had leftovers for the next day.

Ingredients:
Beef ribs
Olive oil
Margarine
Seasoning salt
Oregano
BBQ sauce
Garlic
Onion
Rocoto (spicy pepper)
Romanesca (type of broccoli)
Pasta

Preparation:
1) Cook the pasta al dente along with romanesca.
2) In a pan add oil and margarine to fry the garlic along with the beef ribs, ensuring that the meat gets cover with this mix constantly. Add a little bit of seasoning salt.
3) Fry onions with rocoto and once pasta and romanesca are ready place everything in the same frying pan.
4) Serve pasta with meat and BBQ sauce in the side.
5) We had an avocado so we ate it, also beer!!!
6) Enjoy!!!

Made in Ecuador, $1.35 USD/bottle (600 ml)

Brian’s arepas.
The best arepas I have had. We had leftovers of corn flour from Colombia and we don’t throw anything away, we eat it.
So, Brian was in charged and he decided to make some arepas. How? Simple: mix the flour with water, make a little ball and flatten it to make a little arepa (kind of like a tortilla). Place the arepa in a pan previously coated with margarine so it does not stick to the pan, wait until it cooks in one side then cook the other side (you will see a slight change of colour). We enjoyed them with a little bit of butter on top and with a plate of cooked beans which by the way it took five hours to cook them. This is the problem with beans, if you do not know the type of beans you are buying you can end up with stones.

Anyway, this meal was very economical and I can’t really tell how much because we used leftovers from other recipes.
The beans were not really tasty but the arepas were. The recipe to boil beans is easy:
-Let the beans soak for a while, perhaps all night.
-Boil them. If you needed to add more water make sure this is warm and not cold.
-Add onion and garlic.
-Once they are cooked, add a little bit of salt.

Spaghetti Thai.
Shouldn’t it be rice? Correct, it should be rice but we have struggled with what we should carry: variety of products or practical items? Right answer: practicality takes one further.
For this recipe we had spaghetti so we used it. Leftovers were even better…

Ingredients:
Chicken
Garlic
Onion
Parsnips (my new favourite item)
Rocoto (spicy pepper)
Romanesca (type of broccoli)
Pasta
Coconut milk
Thai curry paste
Margarine
Salt

Preparation:
1) Cook the pasta al dente along with romanesca and parsnips.
2) Cook the chicken in water and once cooked save the soup for another dish.
3) Fry with margarine the diced onions, rocoto and garlic. Add coconut milk and Thai curry paste to taste, a little bit of salt if you may wish.
4) Once the chicken, romanesca and parsnips are ready, add them to the milky mix. Let it cook a bit more.
5) Once ready serve on top of pasta and enjoy along with a beer or tea…