At a fellow research team members house I was able to have a traditional Ecuadorian meal. It was delicious. the first course was a cold soup with various veggies and lots of cilantro in it, the name was seviche, but with out fish. For the main meal we ate slow cooked pork, grilled mashed potatoes or papa, with grilled plantinos. I loved all of it. The meat was supper tender and juicy. The potatoes were thick, almost paste like. The plantinos, or banana was just the perfect sweetness to balance rest of the meal. To finish the meal we had different kinds of fruit. My favorite is in the passion fruit family. The skin is yellow, with orange pomegranate like insides. The taste is a cross of rhubarb and oranges, slightly sour with tropical overtones. The next one was is a distant cousin of the common cucumber. It was purple fading to green skin that was smooth. The fruit was white, and was a cross between cucumber and honeydew. The last was pitahaya. Pitahaya looks like a yellow morning star, as in the medieval weapon. The inside looked just like the insides of a kiwi, only white. Its taste is hard to describe. The closest I'm coming up with is cool sweet spring water. If I am very able to find any of these at home, I will happily buy them.
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| Pitahaya |
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| Inside of Pitahaya |
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| Top of plate remains of passion fruit, bottom peels and white fruit of the cucumber cousin. |
