Ecuadorian food: Chifles (fried plantain chips)

Posted by carrie on March 20, 2010 09:05 AM

I have seen chifles all over.  And not just in Ecuador.  We saw chifles in all of Central America, but especially in Costa Rica.

Today our Spanish teacher asked us if we would like to learn how to make chifles.  Of course we said yes.

After all, who can turn down a plantain “potato” chip (even if just for the experience)?

Our first stop was to the little corner store to buy a green plantain (a special type of plantain, not just an unripe yellow plantain).  This cost us $0.30.

Then we had to pick up some vegetable oil.  A half liter cost us $0.75.

We had a great break from class, and learned how to make something quite delicious and traditional.

Chifles

• 1 green plantain
• .25 L of vegetable oil
• Salt

First, wash the plantain.

It has a kind of sap on the outside of the skin that will turn your hand black if you don’t wash it off.  There’s also a glue”ish” substance, like with a banana, but more intense, between the plantain itself and the skin of the plantain (inside).  It can leave your hands quite sticky if you’re not careful when peeling. (They call it the milk of the plantain in Spanish.)

Peel the plantain.

Cut two parallel scores down the length, and peel the

OK GO does it again

Posted by carrie on March 19, 2010 05:40 PM

I’m not much one for music videos.  But a while back I saw “OK GO”’s “Here It Goes Again”, in which its four band members execute a tightly choreographed dance routine built around a handful of treadmills, video. I thought it was absolutely amazing!

They had to top that one with their next song, “This Too Shall Pass”.  You have to see their result:

Not one to shy away from a challenge, the band set about constructing a painstakingly executed two-story Rube Goldberg machine, set to trigger in time to the music for its latest video, “This Too Shall Pass.” Although it starts out small, with a toy truck knocking over some dominoes, the contraptions that make up the machine rapidly get larger and much more complex — pianos are dropped, shopping carts come crashing down ramps, and one band member is launched headlong through a wall of boxes. After assembling a team of dozens of engineers to construct the set, more than 60 takes were needed to get everything working just right during filming.
–NPR

And just in case you somehow missed it, or just

It rains every day in Quito?

Posted by strive4impact on March 18, 2010 03:50 PM

I love that my dad added Quito weather to his Pocket PC (Phone).

He did that so that he can

Sharing my passion by blogging

Posted by carrie on March 17, 2010 08:59 PM

I’m sure that most of you already know this, but I love cooking.  And not only cooking, but baking as well.

When I was in grad school, and had had a bad day, Jonathan would offer to make me dinner to ease the tension a bit.  Sounds great right?

Well, for me, the problem was that after a hard day I wanted to de-stress.

Some people take a nice hot bath, others have a glass of wine.  Me?  I chop vegetables.

Fresh Farmers' Market Produce in Boquete, Panama - ALL of this cost $2.50

I decided that I might as well share.  I do have about 20 food blogs in my Google reader, so it’s high time I started sharing what I’m doing.

So, here goes.  I will do my best to be a food blogger.  My biggest challenge: renting and moving from furnished apartment to furnished apartment.  I never know what kitchen tools I’ll have and which ones I won’t.

My current challenge: no oven!  All things made here in Quito, Ecuador are made without an oven.  This makes them perfect for summer days.

Stay tuned…

Otavalo Market, Otavalo, Ecuador

Posted by carrie on March 16, 2010 12:32 AM

By now, Jonathan and I have been to a few markets (Chichicastenango, Guatemala, as well as Saquisili here in Ecuador).  But, it has been said that Otavalo is the most famous market in South America.

Since it’s only 2 hours from Quito, we had to check it out.

From

Visiting the Equator (Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador)

Posted by carrie on March 15, 2010 05:12 PM

Last weekend, Jonathan and I went with our friends Alex and Kyra to visit the Mitad del Mundo (This is the CENTER OF THE WORLD! The place where the equator runs through Ecuador).

We met at 9:00 am at the bus station at Colon and Avenida Americas (on the blue bus line in the middle of Quito).  From there we rode that bus all the way to the north end of its line.  At that station, we picked up another bus to the Mitad del Mundo.

(This second bus was very clearly marked, and easy to find.)  The first bus ride out of Quito lasted about 40 minutes, and it cost us $0.25 each.  The second bus ride from Quito to the Mitad Del Mundo, was about 30 minutes, and it cost us

Does Ecuador change times?

Posted by strive4impact on March 14, 2010 05:41 PM

Frequently asked question of today:

Does Ecuador spring forward and fall back (with time zones)?

Nope.

We were on Eastern Time Zone with the US, now we’re in Central time zone.

Thanks for asking! 

Un Presentación de la Pizza

Posted by strive4impact on March 11, 2010 04:03 PM

Today, I gave a Presentación (a presentation) in class.

My presentación was about how to make pizza, Carrie and Jonathan style.

I’m not posting the recipe on line, because the recipe for the dough has

Getting Passport Pages: The United States Embassy in Quito, Ecuador

Posted by strive4impact on March 10, 2010 04:05 PM

Carrie and I needed to get more pages in our passports, so we went to the United States embassy here in Quito.

The whole process was actually quite simple:

• Go in, fill out a form
• wait for your number to be called
• explain to the person behind the glass that you need more pages in your passport
• wait 25 minutes
• get back your passport with more pages in it

Our passports now look more like

How To Make Empanadas: Empanadas From Plantains in Quito, Ecuador

Posted by strive4impact on March 08, 2010 05:34 AM

How To Make Empanadas:

At our Spanish school, we took a class to learn how to make Empanadas. This class was taught by one of the teachers at our Spanish school in Quito, Ecuador.

At the end, the empanadas were completely delicious (though I neglected to actually get a picture or video of anyone actually EATING one).