Street food

The street food of most countries is pretty wonderful, and Ecuador’s no exception.  We didn’t see much in Quito, but here in Mindo it’s been available and delicious.  The corn that shows up here is called choclo, and is this white, big, uneven type that seems more like what's used in the states for hominy.  It’s served here grilled, spread with a light mayo, and a fluffy, lightly flavored shredded cheese packed onto it.  The cheese melts, it’s delicious and the eating is easy, the kernels are loose, and pop off one by one.   $1 per cob.  That’s chicken on the grill next to it.

The photo below is of stuff Steve collected the day we’d ziplined and taken a 10k walk to the butterfly gardens – I was tired, he walked the 8 minutes into town to gather dinner.  It’s a bad photo – we were hungry.  On the left is a cheese empanada $0.40, next is a spiral cut sausage with a potato on the end of the skewer (they normally serve the sausage with mayo; Steve declined) $1, a chocolate bun $0.35, two varieties of bread $0.25 each, and a fantastic sweet cornmeal disk filled with melted cheese, honey poured over, and a sweet shredded cheese on top, $0.75.  Supplemented with two Ecuadorian beers ($1.25 each) which are big, 22 oz, but only 4.2% alcohol.   $5.50.

Last night’s dinner, below, was local trout grilled in banana leaves, potatoes, fried plantains, cabbage with mayo, and beer, $4.75 total.  The portions are so big, we tend to share an order most of the time.  Two views of the "restaurant" follow.

My main disappointment with eating in Ecuador -- as always when traveling -- is the absence of a nice variety of fresh vegetables.  We did run into lightly cooked broccoli and cauliflower one night, but mostly its just a small serving of iceberg lettuce or cabbage in salad form, with pappas, their fantastic potatoes, and fried plantains. 

Today we return to Quito for a few days.  We’ll be trying our hand in the hostel’s kitchen this time, instead of eating the meat-heavy meals that are most of what’s available.  Should be a nice change, and interesting.