Review: La Mama Negra – Latacunga, Ecuador

Back in time for the annual Mama Negra festival in Latacunga we had not prepared ourselves for the event…the streets were FULL of people everywhere, who were simply drinking and drinking!  It was quite a contrast to the festival in Cuenca where there had not been much alcohol and plenty of families were around.

We had a wonder around the town and festivities before deciding to eat in the restaurant named after the event: La Mama Negra.  We had read that you could find the best Chugchucara food here so wanted to see if we agreed.  The restaurant has interesting décor inside and was busy with locals.  We ordered a couple of Chugchucara dishes to share and all enjoyed.  It was definitely not as good as the Pastoria restaurant just outside the town, or those we had eaten up at the Otavelo Animal Market, however, it was still good food.

Review: Marisqueria – Latacunga, Ecuador

After a day of driving through the stunning scenary of the southern highlands of Ecuador from Cuenca, we arrived in Latacunga in the central highlands region in time for dinner.  We had read that there were many good chugchurra restaurants, however, most had already closed so we stumbled across a small restaurant with a grill outside which smelt really good and decided to go for it.

It was a very simple restaurant, no menus, simply pork or beef, with potatoes or rice.  This made things easy!  I went for pork as I have found the pork to always be really tasty in this area of the world.  Being able to watch your meat being grilled and smell the aroma’s of the meat is quite special I always think, however when you are really hungry it makes the hunger even stronger!

When the plate arrived it looked great.  It was the first time since leaving the UK that I remember being given boiled potatoes with a meal which was quite nice!  There was also a corn on the cob – also the first since leaving the UK, which is strange in a region where corn is so prevalent!  It was a nice change to have it served in this manner though.  The onion/tomato salad was a tasty condiment/accompaniment to the pork and in addition the meal came with a sausage which was really tasty.  The meal with an orange juice came to a whopping $3 – you cant really beat that!  My friends all chose the beef which 2 of the 3 said was a bit fatty, however, they still really enjoyed, so this place gets a thumbs up from us!  Not only did it have great, cheap food but we also got to watch Bridget Jones’ Diary whilst we ate!!

Review: Pastoria, Latacunga, Ecuador

As Ecuador is small and easier to get around that many of the other larger countries in South America we decided the best way to see the country would be hiring a car.  So we set off on our road trip from Quito heading for the southern city of Cuenca, stopping at different places along the way.

Our first stop was for lunch near to Latacunga at a chugchucara restaurant called Pastoria.  Pastoria claims to have over 100 years of experience in preparing chugchucara and you can certainly tell they know what they are doing.  The food here was so tasty and the restaurant has an old, country, cowboy feel to it.  The kitchen is open and part of the restaurant so you can go and have a chat with the chefs and see how they prepare the food.  The empanadas here were particularly tasty and morish.

It’s definitely a place that you need to have a car to get to as you just come across it on the duel carriageway.  If you are hiring a car though then make sure you stop at places like this as you get to taste some quality traditional food and meet lovely people.

Food Glossary: Mote

Mote is another key element to a chugchucara or other traditional dishes in Ecuador.  It is hominy - corn cooked without the germ.  I personally don't like it too much, it is quite bland and watery but as the latin american's love their corn it's good to try it in a different form!

Food Glossary: Fritada

Fritada is popular and found in Ecuador usually as part of a chugchucara dish.  It is pieces of fried pork meat which usually includes crackling.  Typically you will see a restaurant or street food stall with the whole pig cooking and sitting in the fat and juices which are then used to make the gravy and other accompaniments to the chugchucara.  Tasty!

Food Glossary: Chugchucara

Chugchucara is a traditional Ecuadorian dish originating from the town of Latacunga.  It can be found at street vendor stalls across Ecuador and at many specific chugchucara restaurants in Latacunga.  It consists of a plate of fritada, mote, lapingachos and small other sides - usually salads, variations of corn and small cheese empanadas.  It is a tasty dish but pretty fatty!  The pictures below are from our first taste of the dish at Otavelo animal market.