Buen Provecho

Ten months ago, I would have scoffed if you had offered me a lukewarm cup of instant coffee. Ten months ago, I would have complained incessantly if anyone dared to make me grilled cheese with quesillo instead of good ole' cheddar cheese. Ten months ago, my local “supermarket” carried Jiff, Skippy, AND Peter Pan peanut butter instead of generic mashed peanuts. Ten months ago I could buy ready-made pasta sauce instead of chopping up vegetable and boiling them for eons. Ten months ago...

I most definitely would not snacking on an humita as I write this blog.

Food.

In the words of chef James Beard, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”  Across the globe, we all eat. Some eat more than others. Billions of individuals struggle to survive without enough food to eat. But, in order to live, all need a bit of nourishment each day.

Yet, this basic fundamental need for food is the only universal. What we eat and how we eat is inherently linked to our surroundings and culture. Beyond a base need to consume calories, eating is an intensely local experience.

Since moving to Zamora, the foods I ingest daily have changed as I have begun to incorporate many local treats into my diet. Favorites include humitas (ground corn and cheese with a “healthy” dose of pig fat), cevichochos (dried corn, plantains, tomatoes, and lime), empanadas (fried cheese pastries), and chocobananas (frozen bananas covered in chocolate...only 10 cents apiece!)  Beyond prepared dishes, the fruit and vegetable selection available in the chaotic Sunday market shames the selection found in most United States supermarkets. Guayabas, machete guayabas, zapotes, granadillas, uvillas, pitahayas, chontas, naranjillas, and tree tomatoes are abundant. Even fruits found throughout the United States come in more varieties; bananas can be either yellow, green, or red! 

Yet, as the variety of fruits found in my refrigerator has grown, other food have disappeared from my diet. Perhaps my favorite food in the United States—peanut butter—is hard to obtain here. I either have to buy a ground peanut substitute available in the local market or trek to SuperMaxi (a large and overpriced supermarket in Loja) and hope that they currently have either Peter Pan or Jiffy available for about $7.00 per jar. Craving Reese's Pieces? Forget about it. Want some Starbursts? Keep dreaming. Just as there are many more varieties of fruits and vegetables available here, there are many more varieties of packaged food available in the local Shaw's.

Beyond the food on my plate, the experience of eating has been transformed since moving to the southern hemisphere. Growing up, dinner was always the most important meal. Although frequently interrupted by a plethora  of sports practices, scout meetings, and the like my mother always tried to serve the family together. It was the largest meal of day after all; we groggilly ate cereal for breakfast before dawn and brought either sandwiches or yogurt to either school or work.

In Ecuador, however, lunch is the most important meal of the day. After school ends at 1:00, teachers and students alike return to their houses to eat with their families. The teachers and staff then return to the school at 2:00 under the controversial new education law requiring all public servants to work for at least 8 hours per day. Such a small window for lunch requires significant adjustment. By the time teachers arrive at home, they have barelyenough time to guzzle down the obligatory appetizer, namely a big steaming bowl of soup regardless of the soaring temperatures outside. As soon as the last drops of broth have been scraped from the bowl, all must dive into the second platter with a vengeance if they plan to return to work ontime. Not only does the plate contain a massive heap (Chimborazo if you will) of rice, but there is typically also a bit of meat or chicken and a spoonful of salad (which generally consists of only one or two vegetables maximum).  The meal isn't over after downing such a large quantity of food, however. A large glass of lukewarm “refresco” or “horchata” is still waiting as Ecuadorians almost never touch their beverage until they have devoured all of their food.

Teachers successfully returning to work on time need to eat with focus given how much food arrives with a typical lunch. Luckily, the majority of Ecuadorians do not seem to talk much once receiving their plates (which are always filled with food in the kitchen). As soon as the plate arrives—whether the others at the table have received their portion or not—an individual will typically dive into their food with admirable focus. In spite of the importance of familial meals, conversation is somewhat rare. Each person focuses on finishing their food before conversing. Although I do not know the reasoning behind this, I suspect it may stem from a desire to avoid the legions of  bugs apt to arrive whenever food is left around for more than a few seconds.

Moreover, many Ecuadorians forgo forks and knives in favor of large spoons. Thus, it is possible to eat significant quantities of food quite rapidly given how much fits into each spoonful. Anything that needs to be cut—such as meat—is simple torn with one's fingers. Quite efficient. Quite messy. Luckily, as I have somewhat recently become a vegetarian to protest the impact of the meat industry on the rainforest, by hands remain clean both literally and figuaratively.

Thus, as I sit spooning heaping spoonfuls of rice with nary a drop of water to wash it down, it is clear that the need for food may indeed be universal but the act of consuming it most certainly is not.