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Ecuador
By Andrew Zimmern on March 12, 2007 6:57 PM | Permalink | 35 Comments
The FLNA is massing on the border with Colombia; coca farmers are rioting in neighboring Bolivia; and I am having dreams about erupting volcanoes as we descend under a moonlit sky into the Quito airport. A night landing in Quito is about as good as it gets ... You descend and fly 20 miles straight through the Avenue of Volcanoes, which line either side of this long, thin plateau that the city is built on, high above sea level but nestled in the notches of dozens of dormant and active volcanoes. The moon seems so close you could almost reach out and touch it. Boy, is that ever a tortured cliche! My apologies. Anyway, a few days in Quito allowed us to see it all: the Old City, the New Town, the churches and cathedrals, the restaurants and the street foods. Soup is big in Ecuador and lunchtime "soup-erias" are packed, especially the good ones like Motes de Magdelena (aka "MdM") in the New Town. Motes are the large steamed corn kernels that seem to float in every bowl or get spooned onto every plate in this country. At MdM I devoured the roasted and grilled meats - there's no menu in reality, rather despite the menu, you take whatever is being cooked that day - piled high in a bowl with motes, avocado, salsa and limes. The avocados in this part of the world are the best you will ever try.
Ceviche is one of the national dishes, and while the ceviches in Esmeralda on the Pacific coast are insanely good, Quito is one of the few mountain cities where the seafood is as good as you will find anywhere. Little "cevicherias" competed for my snacktime dollars with the small empanada stalls and roasted pig vendors that dominate the landscape. Here's the skinny: Look for three or four teeny Ecuadorian grandmas all chatting and rolling circles of dough, and turning them into puffed and fried cheese, and raising stuffed half-moons dusted with cinnamon sugar. Oh, lord, is it amazing!
The small town of Otavalo is home to the largest outdoor market in South America, and on the way there, we stopped and ate some cuy, the "other" Ecuadorean national dish, i.e., barbecued guinea pig. Suffice to say the tufo that everyone brags about here, that is, the sweet sticky essence that lingers on your fingers after you have polished off a couple of these little rascals, is not only a culinary curio, but also a hallmark of a good slow-roasted critter. Most roadside stalls serve them marinated for a day in garlic and orange juice before being grilled to perfection. I was more surprised at how much I loved this dish than most any other I have eaten in the last five trips. The quality of the meat, the sweetness and crispy mantle of the skin after a wood-fired few hours of cooking, and the traditional accompaniments of steamed potatoes and avocados makes for a memorable meal.
Like Morocco, the soil, sun and mountain valley microclimates make everything that is grown in Ecuador taste better than almost everywhere else I have eaten quality fruit and produce. Because of the equatorial climes, there are tropical fruits being grown just a few miles downhill from the traditional four-season varieties. 
On one side of Otavalo, there are orange groves and mountainous tropical temperatures; on the uphill side, snow-capped peaks, pine trees and apples. It's unbelievable ... which makes the farmers market there singular to say the least, and if that isn't enough to get you all gushy in the wee-wee, the town has a global reputation for knitwear that historically is more important than the produce grown here. Buy lots of sweaters - you won't be sorry! We stayed the night at the Hacienda Pinsaqui, a 300-year-old plantation house where every room is heated by three or four fireplaces tended by an exuberant staff and the food and wine list is spectacular. This is a place you won't want to miss when you visit Ecuador.
The next day we took off for Coca, a town on the Napo River from which we would make our way into Sacha Lodge to hang with the Pilchi Indians and spend four days in the Amazon jungle. Coca used to handle one flight a week from Quito, then one a day, now eight ... just another example of the human impact and degradation of the Amazon jungle, which here in Ecuador is disappearing at the rate of 3 percent a year. At this pace, in another 30 years, it will be gone. Sacha Lodge is half a day's speedboat ride up the Napo. Then you trek through the jungle and paddle across Lake Pilchicocha to get to the front door. Sacha Lodge was built entirely by hand by native builders, and every single stick and stone came in "by shoulder," down the river in long canoes. The five-star lodge experience here is unique in this part of the world. Each family, group or individual, if that is the way you are traveling, is assigned a guide for your stay and a luxury house in the jungle that is all yours for the duration. You eat all the meals in the lodge with your guide. Efrain Hernandez was mine, and I spent all day with him and Donald, our native guide.
Effy knows everything there is to know about everything, in a big picture way, and Donald knows the rest. For example, we hear a series of calls and clicks in the jungle. Effy says they are howler monkeys, toucans, aguti (a giant rodent) and pygmy marmosets. He is right, but Donald is the one who can find them and bring us to them without them being spooked. He can predict weather, hunt and fish in a way that I have never seen before, cook for two or 200, and though he is only about 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, he basically paddles, portages, and hauls all the gear for seven of us 24 hours a day. He is one of the most remarkable men I have ever met, and one of the great joys of my life was spending four days in the jungle with him.
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Thank you Mr. Zimmern for visiting my country, and for giving the world such a wonderful description of the Ecuadorian food. I could not describe it better. Although, Ecuador is a small and poor country, its resources, culture, traditions, and people make it a paradise worth to visit.
Hi Andrew, I am writing because my husband loves your show, he to is a chef and is constantly looking for new things to eat, I think he would enjoy meeting you and maybe going on a trip with you. he has been a chef for a lot of years but has never gotten a break for something big, and I think he needs a break he is a very good man. thank you for maybe listening and giving him a chance.
Hi Andrew, I enjoyed your description of my country, Ecuador! I always look out for shows that travel to Ecuador because it is not a well known country, but people underestimate it. I'm glad you got the chance to experience it first hand. Sounds like you enjoyed the exotic food, especially the cuy.I hope you go there another time in the future. You should try Cuenca and the port city, Guayaquil. Thank you again and keep exploring!
Hi Andrew, Your shows are great and very enjoyable. I had the greatest joy seeing you meet the witch doctor. You were spit at and rubbed with a fur as well as smoked at. Thank you for going through that so that we will not ever have to bump into that situation.
Hey Andrew: Why don't you try something really bizarre? I hear warm brains of a member of the Korowai tribe on Papua in New Guinea are very tasty! Why don't you indulge in a little cannabalism and let us know how it tastes?
I'll be studying in Quito this coming year and I wanted to say thanks for helping me to plan out where to go in my free time. I can't wait to visit Otavalo.
Andrew, Enjoy your show each time I get to sit and watch. I don't know that I would be able to "attempt" what you do. Sometimes I start to gag just watching you. I have a friend at work whose daughter lives in Ecuador. She visited there earlier in February. I told her about your show and she wished she could have seen it. Is there a way to get a copy of an episode as a gift for her? If you could please let me know, I would really appreciate it! Keep tasting! Jeff
Hi Jeff, Bizarre Foods DVD is coming soon. Continue checking Amazon.com and the DiscoveryStore.com. Thanks! - 'BF' Online Producer
Hello Andrew. My name is Silvia and I am from Romania.I love eating "bizzare" foods too, and whenever I am in a foreign country I eat only local food. Last year I was in Peru and I ate cuy and pirahna and ceviche. In an year or so I want to visit Ecuador,that's why I want to ask you for the email address of your rain forest guide Efrain Hernandez so I can contact him and plan a trip to the jungle.Is it possible? can I get it ? And maybe you're thinking of coming to Romania (Dracula's country, hahha ),we too have strange food here ! Thak you !
Hi, Silva. The place to check out is Sacha Lodge. They have a website: www.sachalodge.com. That is where you can find Efrain Hernandez!
Thanks Mr.Andrew for visiting Ecuador, I am a big fan of your show and I so happy to see my belove country on tv. You should visit the coastline cities of Ecuador next time specially Guayaquil you will have a great culinary expirience there, food is delicious and bizarre.
Thank you Mr. Zimmern for visiting my country and describing in a way that, I am sure, will bring a great number of tourist to visit. Your blog makes me proud to be Ecuadorian. Thank you again.
My husband and I do not miss your show. We have 5 kids and he is a full time student so we don't get out much. Your show takes us everywhere. We learn and laugh during every show. However, your visit to the shaman was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I want so desparately to show my husband but I can't find it scheduled anywhere. I laughed so hard I was crying. It was such a great stress reliever that I really want to own that episode and play it over and over again. When is that show on again? It's great to watch you, Andrew. It's like hanging out with a buddy that you can torture all the time by saying, "Hey, Andrew, I dare you to eat THIS".
Hi Andrew,your show is great !Im a big eater from Texas and really envy you for getting to travel the world and eat all these exotic foods.Thanks for the inspiration.Im buying my airline tickets today!
Hi Andrew, Thank you for visiting my family's country of Ecuador. I have been wanting to go back for many years now and you are inspiring me to go back. But u really need to go to Guayaquil. Thats where i love to visit and have the most delicious ceviches!
I have been to Ecuador 3 times. Each time has been a special treat. I had an experience this past summer with a shaman deep in the Amazon. As he spoke of mystical healing he was dealing with a bad smoker's cough! But I love the country and am fortunate to have friends there who give me a taste of the "real" Ecuador. Don't miss the habas and sugar coated peanuts! Also, best soups I have ever had!!
Love your show and I was especially happy to watch the Ecuador episode because I too, have traveled there, and by golly, you had the same guide I had!! He drove us all over and was an excellent source of info. He took us up Cotapaxi, he took us to Banos and we spent the night there, waking up to volcanic ash all over, he took us to the rain forest *sigh*...what a trip. Thanks for rekindling that wonderful time in my life!! Keep eatin! It is really fun to watch you!!
Unlike the previous messages, I am writing to tell you that I extremely dissliked your program. More so it was't the program as a whole, but the portion about the yachaks. It ruined the rest of the program for me. You were increadibly disrespectful. You illustrated a man-a man generous enough to share his beliefs, and to show you his healing techniques-as a silly irrational person. Those were his beliefs, that was what he had dedicated his life too, and you mocked it. You laughed through out the entire experience. I too have traveld to Ecuador, and have been able to watch a traditional healing, and although things the healer did seemed a bit strange at times to me, it was never funny. Not only were you disrespectful to the healer in the video, but by calling the yachaks witch doctors and making fun of the proffesion, you disrespected everyone who works as a yachak or believes in the yachaks work. The worst part is that you displayed this ignorant and insulting attitude on television, and all of these people on your blog are responding thinking it is okay to ridicule these peoples way of life. It is wrong and you should be ashamed.
Hi Andrew, I'm half Ecuadorian and Half Peruvian you show on Ecuador was great, It would have been nice for you to also visit Guayaquil,the large port city and show others its beauty as well. We really do have great dishes in Ecuador that would have been nice for you to tast as well. That was brave of you to go through the cleanse with the doctor, did you know what you were getting yourself into? Hope to see you in Peru soon!!!
Mr. Zimmern, I watch most of your show on your Ecuador visit on Feb. 2, 2008. It was awesome!! My parents are from Ecuador and you show made me want to go there. It was very interesting. Any idea when/if this show will air again? I really would like to see it again.
Hi Andrew! I really enjoy watching your show! Unfortunately I did not get to see the episode where you visited my beautiful country of Ecuador but I read your blog and I'm glad you enjoyed your visit also your viewers got a glimpse of our traditions. I would suggest that you visit Ecuador once again but this time I recommend that you visit all the coastal region as well as all southern central area, especially my home town of Azogues where you can get a taste of the world's best "cascarita" - flame roasted pig skin, a soup made from cow's feet and a soup made from the lining of sheep's stomach. Gualaceo is another beautiful town where you can get to drink fresh made sugar cane juice "guarapo". Also you can enjoy a visit to Cuenca and El Cajas national park where you can enjoy eating fresh water trout just fished out of one of the 270 lakes and lagoons found at El Cajas. Thank you for such a wonderful show and keep eating!!!
I have to agree with Pam Denning Levengood. I just saw a rerun of your trip to Ecuador and was shocked by the way you treated the medicine man. No matter what your background and credentials, in that moment you became just another white, ignorant, American who should have traveled the world enough to know better than to be so rude to your host and healer. I was truly ashamed and embarrassed.
I have to agree with Pam Denning Levengood. I just saw a rerun of your trip to Ecuador and was shocked by the way you treated the medicine man. No matter what your background and credentials, in that moment you became just another white, ignorant, American who should have traveled the world enough to know better than to be so rude to your host and healer. I was truly ashamed and embarrassed.
My 7 and 9 year old boys love to watch your show! They saw the episode where you went to Ecuador and since we were planning a trip there we had to make a special stop in "la Sierra" so the boys could try Cuy. They loved it!! Thank you so much for making them interested in broadening their horizons!
My 7 and 9 year old boys love your show. They saw the episode where you went to Ecuador. Since we were going there, we HAD to make a stop in "La Sierra" so the boys could try CUY. They loved it!! Thank you so much for making them want to broaden their horizons!
Mr. Zimmern, Me and my family really like your show and, would it be possible to get some of those recipies, Im very curious
holy cow, in my whole life I have never eaten more dangerously than the chicken gizzards. Last night I ate octapus and eel. It was Awesome. You never mentionsed there would be bones with the eel. And ok, it was cooked but you could feel the little octapus succers( i have no idea how to spell them) squish between your teeth!!! What a rush. So this weekend , I'm eating tongue:) may be it has some thing to do with old age, but this is awesome, and like you always say...'if it looks good , eat it!' And it did, and I did! I so love this show.
ok so i dont know if im crazy or not but i could swear that i remember seeing a show where you had a drink with a human finger in the bottom and the deal was that you drinkn it til the finger touches your mouth.please please tell me if you did do this.
how do you find cook books of the things you have ate?
Hi Andrew, i love your show, come back to Ecuador, i will give you 20 reasons:
"Tiburon" in the Central Merch
"Cascaritas" in Cuenca
"Chucgchucaras" in Ambato
"Hornado" en sangolqui
"yahuarlocro" en Quito
"tripas, menudo, morocho" en la floresta (Quito)
"Ceviche de carro" en las playas
"Jugos de toda fruta" en el malecón de atacames
"dog" in Loja
"serpent" in the amazon, monkey in the same place
gret diversity of insects and more cuy.
go ahead!
Dario
Help get me the (&(^*^ outta here!
I'm pretty sure that the national dish of Ecuador is guinea pig...not ceviche.
I am so glad I found your show! I am glad you went to Ecuador-your blog made me miss my home! I would kill for some good ceviche.
would love a good recipe for how they make Empanadas, can you help?
This sounds right on par with what I experienced in Ecuador. Wonderful! I so enjoyed my time there.