eG Food Blog: Panaderia Canadiense (2011)

[LindaK]

First I wanted to eat. Now I want to shop. Love the stainless steel and the wooden serving pieces.

[andiesenji]

I also want to shop. I would have to take a couple of pack mules with me because you have pictured many thinks I would like to buy.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Linda, I'll torture you a bit more.... I forgot to add the pictures of some of the Raku ware! I'm really tempted to go back tomorrow and buy a tureen.

[andiesenji]

I really, really do need a green bean pot! I've got several Mexican barros or cooking ollas, and cazuelas in several sizes, but those in the top photo are gorgeous.

Edited November 4, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Darienne]

Want one of those and one of those and one of those.

Question: does Ecuador have its own name and variation for Palenquetas? And do you have a recipe for said? I just made a batch of Fany Gerson's Palenquetas, subbing dark Piloncillo for white sugar which she called for (white sugar?????) and it occurred to me that you might have such a thing also.

The whole world has brittle recipes, no doubt. But I see that Ecuador has its own twist for many Latin dishes.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Sure, what we make is called Turron de Mani and Dulce de Mani. I'll have to dig in my binders for a recipe, but I imagine it's not much different than a standard Mexican-style palanqueta. Usually Ecuadorian versions have bits of candied ginger in them along with the nuts.

[kayb]

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. I. Want. Those. Figs. In a sandwich, with queso fresco. I would have said I could have died happy after that, but then there was this:

"We were too early to sample the Fritada (chunks of pork belly cooked in their own fat with panela), which is done over wood fires in giant brass cauldrons."

Pork belly in panela? Take me now, Lord. There are obviously more things in Ecuador's cuisine than were dreamt of in my philosophy, with apologies to Horatio.

Yeah. I got to visit. This particular blog has made me lust for airline tickets more than any I've read here. Congrats, PanaCana. You need to be working for Ecuador's tourism bureau. Y'all are certainly way up on my list of Places To Visit and Eat My Way Through!

[Darienne]

Sure, what we make is called Turron de Mani and Dulce de Mani. I'll have to dig in my binders for a recipe, but I imagine it's not much different than a standard Mexican-style palanqueta. Usually Ecuadorian versions have bits of candied ginger in them along with the nuts.

No rush, but I would be overjoyed. Found a few not very interesting recipes and I suspect that you'll come up with a doozy.

[YSL]

If it wasn't enough showing us the fantastic and wide array of produce, food and utensils.. You tempt us with fig sandwiches and Fritada (chunks of pork belly cooked in their own fat with panela) Could you hear the sighs of contentment from everyone who read that line?

Again, am loving the blog this week, looking forward to the remaining days.

[Trev]

This is a real learning experience. So far everything looks so amazing, and I agree about the green clay pots. Love those.

I also feel a little vindicated because for some reason I had pictured you as a tall woman.

Great blog, PanCan.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Trev (log)

[Dejah]

Food and shopping therapy...who could ask for anything more?

Wonderful blog. Thanks for"taking one" for the eguletteers.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Up until now, folks, what you've seen me eat for dinner has been North American standards. I do also cook Ecuadorian! Last night's dinner was something I've been wanting to try making for quite some time: Corviche. I'm going to walk you through it, too, because this is something that can be made in the exterior.

I've also been sorely neglecting the cuisine of the coastal provinces in this blog (next time I blog for y'all, it will be from the Ruta del Sol, so that you can see this) - Corviche is a specialty of the province of Esmeraldas. If you ask any random sample of 10 Ecuadorians where the best food in the country is, 9 of them will name somewhere on the north coast (the 10th will say "grandma's house.") This country is in love with seafood.

Corviche is spicy seafood stuffed into sweet plantain dough and then baked or fried. The version I made last night was with blonde mangrove shrimp, because they're on special at the supermarket for $4.50 a pound. I used as a guideline for the dough and proportions of filling a small $1 cookbook that I bought on the bus about a month ago, specifically because it has the Corviche recipe in it. I love that in this country I can buy a cookbook on the bus if I so wish! (I can also buy fritada, cevichochos, chilenos, bags of fruit, fruit salads, and the best potato chips in the country on the interprovincial busses - the chips I can only get there!)

Corviche is only ever as good as the plantains you base it on. I use a type called Platano Maqueño, which is available (so far as I can tell) only in Ecuador and Hawaii. Hawaiians know this plantain as Maoli Popo'ulu. Maqueños are huge and slightly sweeter than other plantains when ripe. Whichever plantain you use, it must be semimaduro (semi-ripe) for the dough to come out correctly.

Peel 4 plantains and break them into chunks with your hands. The chunks go into a pot, and get covered with water and set on to boil until they turn golden.

While that's happening, prepare your dough flavouring - finely chopped peanuts, leek, and chunks of red tomato. Also peel and devein your shrimp.

Sautee the dough flavouring in a bit of oil until the leek glassifies and the tomatoes begin to melt away.

Add to the cooked plantain mixture and mush it all up good with your hands. Because this is masa semimaduro, you'll need to add plantain flour to thicken the dough to a workable consistency - the amount you need will depend on how ripe your plantains were. This time round I used about 600-650 g.

Allow the dough to rest. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Cut each shrimp into 3-4 pieces, dice a few mushrooms, and cut some short strips of red and green pepper.

Fry this up together with some spices. The cookbook tells me to use just cumin, fresh cilantro, salt, and pepper, but I want a spicier filling. So, I'm using cumin, oregano, garlic, aji powder, and parsely along with the fresh cilantro. Just towards the end, I'll also throw in some aji seeds for an extra kick, and I'll finish the fry with a shot of Zhumir to bring up all of the flavours and add that extra bit of umami. The dough is very sweet, and I feel that the filling should be both a textural and flavourful contrast - this is the Atacames philosophy of Corviche. (As opposed to, say, the Esmeraldas City philosophy, which says the filling should be sweet and the dough piquant.)

Once the filling has cooled a bit (don't want to burn your hands!), start stuffing. A Corviche is formed by taking a ball of dough of the size that fits into your two closed hands (about the size of a raquetball), patting it into an indent, stuffing, and pinching closed. Like so:

The finished Corviches are set aside to rest before cooking. I'm trying two different methods tonight: I'll bake 6 in an oiled casserole, and fry the remainder.

The bakers went into the oven at 350F for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the fryers were done in hot sunflower oil until they turned golden and crunchy.

Finished Corviches:

We ate these with an assortment of steamed veggies. Dee-lish! Baked Corviches have a firmer dough texture more similar to bread, while fried ones are crunchy on the outside and creamy towards the center.

- Edited to put an attachment in its rightful place.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[Shelby]

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. I. Want. Those. Figs. In a sandwich, with queso fresco. I would have said I could have died happy after that, but then there was this:

"We were too early to sample the Fritada (chunks of pork belly cooked in their own fat with panela), which is done over wood fires in giant brass cauldrons."

Pork belly in panela? Take me now, Lord. There are obviously more things in Ecuador's cuisine than were dreamt of in my philosophy, with apologies to Horatio.

Yeah. I got to visit. This particular blog has made me lust for airline tickets more than any I've read here. Congrats, PanaCana. You need to be working for Ecuador's tourism bureau. Y'all are certainly way up on my list of Places To Visit and Eat My Way Through!

Maybe we could get a good deal on tickets together because I must have one of those fig sandwiches before I die.

[Anna N]

Maybe we could get a good deal on tickets together because I must have one of those fig sandwiches before I die.

All right! You can have the fig sandwiches - me I want that cuy.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Would people be interested in a food tour? I'd be happy to set an itinerary - I've only shown you but a tiny slice of my adopted country.....

[kalypso]

Maybe we could get a good deal on tickets together because I must have one of those fig sandwiches before I die.

All right! You can have the fig sandwiches - me I want that cuy.

Ladies, why limit yourself, I want it all

I haven't seen anything in this blog that I wouldn't want to eat. It's an expensive plane ticket from San Diego too, but man, after this week, it's sure looking like a good investment.

Panaderia Canadiense, thanks so much for such a delicious and entertaining blog. I've really enjoyed living vicariouisly through you this past week.

Edited November 5, 2011 by kalypso (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I dreamed about the bean pots, so it was back to the Feria again today. We were a bit later, which means of course that more vendors were open....

That means that the chocolate fountains were up and running. In the rack are chocolate covered Fresas (large strawberries), marshmallows, and ubos.

It also means that there were potters anew - and if I had a million dollars, I'd have bought the full set of these.

The food court was also up and running, which meant more lovely llapingachos, horneado, pinchos, and chicken parts on the grill. To the right of the cook in this first picture is Mote, something I haven't had a chance to explain until now. Mote is pressure-cooked alkalinized flint corn, and it's normally served with chincharron (not pictured) which are little chunks of salty, crunchy, caramelized piggy parts.

Breakfast today was an ice-cream cone. This vendor sells handmade cream-based helados in a number of tempting flavours. Mom opted for Cafe Mokka (the light brown cone), Dad for Coconut (the white cone), and I indulged in Fererro, which is chocolate hazelnut cream with chocolate chips and roasted macadamia nuts (the dark cone.) In a word: Faboo.

And I did buy a beanpot. Unfortunately the really nice green ones I was coveting yesterday had sold, but there was a happy ending - this one is unassuming burn earth freckle on the outside, and astounding green-cream inside. A steal at $11.

[annabelle]

Thank you, Elizabeth! What a lovely blog.

[hsm]

This has been a real treat, from the food to the culture and back again, thanks so much!

[LindaK]

Beautiful pottery, what a variety. You did well with your bean pot. And the street food...chocolate fountains, really?

Thanks for the corviche demo, those photos are making me hungry.

[JTravel]

Not saying I crave the cuy, but every bit of your week was so interesting. I look forward to updates on your life (and food) in your new and exotic (to us) home. For now, I want some of that ice cream.

Thanks

[Viktoria]

Yours was an amazing food blog. Absolutely made me want to visit!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

We're not done yet, folks - you've got me until the end of Sunday!

Linda - absolutely chocolate fountains, wherever there's a uground outlet available.

[heidih]

The pottery - oh my!

The red chiles coming out of the roasted pig's ears - going to borrow that one.

Is the fountain chocolate of decent quality or is it more for show?

You may have pushed me over the edge to use plantains, and also to rethink my banana aversion. I have had a banana fried in a thin dough wrapper right out of the fryer from a Vietnamese shop and enjoyed it. Perhaps I need better bananas or a contrasting flavor to perk it up.

[Tri2Cook]

This has been really enjoyable. I love reading through a food blog from a place I've never been. Everyday ordinary things to the person blogging have me constantly thinking "Wow! What's that?" and I realize (once again) just how much there is in the food world that I know nothing about. And for some reason I'm feeling like I now have to make Guaguas de Pan...