What you are buying at your local market may not be as fresh as you might think it is! Fruit that is grown here in Ecuador ripens naturally on its tree, bush or vine. Much of the fresh fruit we see at our local markets are shipped from Ecuador; though they are picked unripe and put in containers with ethylene oxide so that they ripen artificially with perfect timing as they arrive to us in the United States. The fruit here tastes unlike anything I’ve ever purchased back home. Apparently frozen bags of fruit are more nutritious because they are flash frozen.

In Ecuadorian cooking, salsas and sauces add flavor and are a bland, but delicate way to taste and enjoy what you are eating. There are not too many ingredients in any one dish. Every region of the country we visit has a different fresh type of salsa, using fresh fruits and vegetables and typically some cilantro. There is a Paneria and Pasteleria (bread and pastry shop) on every corner. Fresh. Simply homemade. Everything here is harvested and hand picked going straight to the kitchen or to sell on the street corners to the locals. It is simply delicious and is inspiring the love of cooking in me with a very new attitude towards eating.