Legends are legends in any part of the world, it seems. This graffiti was photographed at Banos, just a short half hour bus ride from Cuenca. This next shot though is normally what tourists would focus on there.
The church. It's very blue and by contrast, the food is very golden.
...and street food is really tasty. This is a dish of roasted pork and fried potato cakes.
I took my parents there for lunch when they were visiting.
Supermarkets aren't big over here. It's great that food is still prepared from scratch and readily available to all income brackets. One of the most popular Latin American 'fast foods' is the Tamale.
We serve these Tamales in the cafe - they're from Susana's bakery and are a tasty and complete meal. Susana also bakes heavy loaves of baked grain bread.
We don't want to give too much away about our coffee, but it's good, some say the best in the country. Who am I to disagree? The beans are all grown in the Ecuadoran highlands and roasted in Guayaquil on the coast, by a family with their roots in Italy. It seems like the European roasting expertise really shows off the Ecuadoran bean. That's Chris making espresso on the Italian machine, Sibilla.
Teas are much more popular among the locals than coffee. This tea is called Horchata and, like Tamales, you'll find variations of the recipe throughout the continent. In Ecuador, the tea is made from fresh flowers and grasses and herbs like carnations and geraniums, amaranth, borage, cedron, chamomile and basil - so it's pink! It's drunk mainly for its medicinal properties. The nuns from the Mariana Sanctuary on the edge of the flower market here in the historic centre, sell their home brew from the tiny door in the wall of their convent. There can be quite a number of people lining up to buy a cup of the healing Horchata. No such miraculous qualities attached to our brew though but you know, it's never too late to start a good rumour.
We look 4 ward to trying that tea come next spring and going to market, and making new friends!
Bob & Sherri Barcus
Posted by: Barcussherri | September 19, 2010 at 09:16 PM