My Obsession

Eating the ice and flesh out of a coco helado.

Every time I come to Ecuador I become obsessed with a certain type of food. One trip it was yogurt and pan de yucca. The "yogurt" here is more like a smoothie/milkshake made out of fresh fruit, plain yogurt and sugar. Devine!!!

The next trip it was yogurt and tortillas. Again, "tortillas" here are not like the tortillas we think of in the states. These are not Mexican tortillas. These are Ecuadorian tortillas. They are the size and shape of an extra-large egg. Made generally of corn or plantains and filled with cheese. Served warm and crunchy on the outside and gooie on the inside, with a consistency kind of like grits. LOVE them!!!

My food obsessions have been more on the fruit variety on other trips. Mangos, papayas, white pineapple. Always amazing.

But this trip it is jugo de coco. And helado de coco. And coco helado. But generally jugo de coco. Otherwise known as coconut juice. It is not as thick and heavy as coconut milk, but is sweet, refreshing and always COLD. Helado de coco is coconut ice cream. Generally home made with a real stick serving as the popsicle stick. Yes a real stick. Without bark. Coco helado is a coconut someone has stuck in the freezer. They cut off the top, stick in a straw and you drink the coconut water. Kind of what you can imagine happening on some deserted Caribbean island. But these you buy in the middle of Ecuador. (Notice a theme in these blogs? Amazing how much you crave cold when you are always hot. Pretty sure I'll be pining for Ecuador's heat in week or so.)

But the stuff I crave every day is jugo de coco. People, generally men, wander the streets with carts selling this nectar of the gods. The carts are more like big blue oil drums on wheels. The jugo comes spitting out of the top through a spigot. Served over crushed ice, it never fails to refresh me.

It has also helped me gain the 15 odd pounds I think I've packed on since arriving.