Ecuadorian cuisine is diverse, varying with altitude and associated agricultural conditions. Pork

Pork

Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....

, chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

, beef, and cuy (guinea pig

Guinea pig

The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...

) are popular in the mountain regions and are served with a variety of carbohydrate-rich foods, especially rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 and potatoes. A popular street food

Street food

Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...

 in mountain regions is hornado

Hornado

Hornado is roast pig, cooked whole, in Ecuadorian cuisine. It is often served in highland markets. Hornado is generally accompanied by llapingacho, mote , and vegetables.-External links:*...

, consisting of potatoes served with roasted pig. Some examples of Ecuadorian cuisine in general include patacones, unripe plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

s fried in oil

Cooking oil

Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature ....

, mashed up and then refried, llapingachos, a pan seared potato ball, and seco de chivo, a type of stew

Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...

 made from goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

. A wide variety of fresh fruit is available, particularly at lower altitudes, including granadilla

Sweet granadilla

Passiflora ligularis, commonly known as the Sweet granadilla or Grenadia is a plant species in the Passiflora genus. The epithet ligularis comes from the plant's ligulate corollae. It is native to the Andes Mountains between Bolivia, Venezuela and Colombia. It grows as far south as northern...

, passionfruit, naranjilla

Naranjilla

Solanum quitoense, known as naranjilla |orange]]") in Ecuador and as lulo in Colombia, is a subtropical perennial plant from northwestern South America. The specific name for this species of nightshade means "from Quito."...

, several types of banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

s, uvilla

Physalis peruviana

Physalis peruviana is the plant and its fruit, also known as cape gooseberry , Inca berry, Aztec berry, golden berry, giant ground cherry, Peruvian groundcherry, Peruvian cherry , poha , ras bhari , aguaymanto , uvilla ,...

, taxo, and tree tomato.

Regional differences

There are several Ecuadorian dishes that are typical to the various regions in the country. For example, costeños (people from the coast) preffer fish, beans and plantains (unripened banana like fruit), while serranos from the mountain regions prefer meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

, potatoes, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 and white hominy

Hominy

Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization.The English term hominy is derived from the Powhatan language word for maize. Many other Native American cultures also made hominy and integrated it into their diet...

 (mote). Regional examples include ceviche

Ceviche

Ceviche is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of the Americas, especially Central and South America. The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers. Additional seasonings such as onion, salt,...

s from the Coast, which are prepared in many different ways but basically consist of seafood (fish, shrimp, etc) marinated in lime juice , as well as cassava (yuca) bread, plantains served with crushed peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

s or salprieta, and encebollado

Encebollado

Encebollado is a typical dish from the south Ecuadorian coast, most likely from the provinces of Guayas and Manabi. In simple terms, the "encebollado" is a fish stew containing incurtida cassava and red onion. Juice of onion is made with tomato, condiments such as "pepper" and other species...

, a very popular dish in the Coast, that contains a marinade with large chunks of fish, onions and various regional seasonings.

Seafood is very popular at the coast, where fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, prawn

Prawn

Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...

s, shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 and crabs, clams

CLaMS

CLaMS is a modular chemistry transport model system developed at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. CLaMS was first described by McKenna et al. and was expanded into three dimensions by Konopka et al....

, etc are key parts of the diet. Plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

- and peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

-based dishes are the basis of many coastal meals, which are usually served in two courses. The first course is caldo soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

, which may be aguado (a thin soup, usually with meat) or caldo de leche, a cream vegetable soup. The second course might include rice, meat or fish with a menestra (lentil stew), and salad or vegetables. Patacones (fried green plantains with cheese) are popular side dishes with coastal meals. Some of the typical dishes in the coastal region are: ceviche

Ceviche

Ceviche is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of the Americas, especially Central and South America. The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers. Additional seasonings such as onion, salt,...

, pan de almidón, corviche, guatita, papas con quero, encebollado

Encebollado

Encebollado is a typical dish from the south Ecuadorian coast, most likely from the provinces of Guayas and Manabi. In simple terms, the "encebollado" is a fish stew containing incurtida cassava and red onion. Juice of onion is made with tomato, condiments such as "pepper" and other species...

and empanada

Empanada

An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...

s; in the mountain region: hornado

Hornado

Hornado is roast pig, cooked whole, in Ecuadorian cuisine. It is often served in highland markets. Hornado is generally accompanied by llapingacho, mote , and vegetables.-External links:*...

, fritada

Fritada

Fritada is a typical dish in Ecuadorian cuisine. Its main ingredient is fried pork. It is a traditional dish, and its origins date back to the colonial era, to the beginning of the 19th century. The pork is cooked in boiling water with various spices and then is fried with pork fat in a brass pan...

, humitas, tamales, llapingachos

Llapingachos

Llapingacho is a famous dish in Ecuador. They are potato patties or thick pancakes stuffed with cheese and cooked on a hot griddle until crispy brown....

, lomo saltado

Lomo saltado

Lomo saltado is a Peruvian dish that has Asian influences consisting of strips of sirloin marinated in vinegar, soy sauce and spices, then stir fried with red onions, parsley and tomatoes. It is traditionally served over white rice with homemade french fries that look more like potato wedges. Its...

, and churrasco

Churrasco

Churrasco is a Portuguese and Spanish term referring to beef or grilled meat more generally, differing across Latin America and Europe, but a prominent feature in the cuisines of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and other Latin American countries...

.

A food of the mountainous parts of Ecuador is guinea pig

Guinea pig

The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...

.

The food is somewhat different in the southern mountain area, featuring typical Loja food such as repe, a soup prepared with green bananas; cecina, roasted pork; and miel con quesillo or "cuajada" as dessert. In the rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

, a dietary staple is the yuca, elsewhere called cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

. The starchy root is peeled and boiled, fried, or used in a variety of other dishes. Many fruits are available in this region, including bananas, tree grapes, and peach palms. It's also used as a bread and has spread throughout the nation, most notably, to Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

 where a company sells the native pan de yuca in a new sense; different types sold with frozen yoghurt.

Typical meal

Ecuadorian cuisine traditionally consists of two dishes, a soup and a rice platter. For the most part, Ecuador is known not only for its bananas and all the dishes made from them, but for its starch consumption of products like potato, bread, rice, and yuca. Traditionally any of these factors can be found in either the soup or the rice platter that may be served. Most regions in Ecuador follow the traditional 3 course meal of sopa (soup) and segundo (second dish) which includes rice and a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 such as meat, poultry, pig or fish. Then dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

 and a coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 are customary. Dinner is usually lighter and sometimes just coffee or agua de remedio (herbal tea) with bread.

Alcoholic beverages

Aguardiente

Aguardiente

Aguardiente , aiguardent , aguardente , and augardente are generic terms for alcoholic beverages that contain between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume...

, a sugar cane-based spirit, is probably the most popular national alcohol. Canelazo

Canelazo

Canelazo is a hot alcoholic beverage consumed in the Andean highlands of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.-In Ecuador and Colombia:It typically consists of aguardiente , sugar or panela, and agua de canela . Canelazo is traditionally made with homemade aguardiente, but bottled alcohol is also used...

 is a popular drink made from aguardiente. Drinkable yogurt, available in many fruit flavors, is popular and is often consumed with pan de yuca, a light bread filled with cheese and eaten warm.

Christian influence

Besides the regions, there are several typical Ecuadorian dishes consumed on special occasions. During Finados (November 2), there is the Colada Morada, which is prepared with black corn flour. During Easter, the Fanesca

Fanesca

Fanesca is a soup traditional to Ecuador. Its components and preparation vary from one region of the country to another, if not from one family to another. It is typically prepared and served only in the week before Easter...

 is traditionally served all over Ecuador. Fanesca

Fanesca

Fanesca is a soup traditional to Ecuador. Its components and preparation vary from one region of the country to another, if not from one family to another. It is typically prepared and served only in the week before Easter...

, a fish soup including several types of beans, is often eaten during Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

 and Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

. During the week before the commemoration of the deceased or día de los muertos, the fruit beverage Colada Morada

Colada morada

Colada morada is a typical Ecuadorian beverage prepared with black corn flour and fruits such as naranjilla, babaco, pineapple, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries...

is typical, accompanied by Guaguas de Pan, which is stuffed bread shaped like children.

External links

• Ecuadorian churrasco