Food
Ecudorean food is a mix of Andean cuisine, Creole on the coast and bland American imports.
In the highlands, guinea-pigs or cuy remain an important source of protein, you’ll see them roasting over open coals at street stalls. Go on, try it at least once.
Other market favourites include whole roast hog – head and all. Strips of crackling are sold by the bag.
On the coast the seafood can be excellent. Ecuador farms prawns on an industrial scale, so expect to see them served up in all sorts of ways. Encocado – in coconut milk with rice is sublime. Dorado and corvina are two excellent white fish, often served ecocado, grilled or in a caldo (broth).
Plantains – the giant cousin of the banana – are a major source of sustenance in Ecuador. Try plantain soup, plantain chips or patacones – flattened roasted plantain slices.
By far the best food is the fruit. Ecuador produces some of the tastiest – and most outlandish – fruit, and they’re all served up in delicious juices, ice creams and pancakes.
Alongside the usual suspects, try naranjilla – an apply-orange fruit, best enjoyed juiced; tomate de arbol – literally a tree tomato, picked green and made into a refreshing juice; guanabana – an outlandish green fruit with creamy white yoghurty flesh and mora – local blackberries.
