Sunday morning and I'm curing the
clay pot that I bought at the Rotary Market (for $4). I took two
cooking classes last week--first one on Thurs, second on Sat. and I
learned a lot. One of which was about the local clay pots. The meal
that the instructor fixed was pork prepared in the clay pot on the top
of the stove. I said I was interested in buying a pot; she told me
where to find it, approximately how much to pay and how to cure it. The
process: put the (empty) pot over the flame for a short time first,
then fill pot with water, bring to boil, boil for 30 minutes, empty and
then put milk in the pot, bring to boil for short time.
We walked to the indigenous market near where I live (and have shopped) on Tues. and she showed me her favorite vendors. I asked her if she, as an Ecuadorian, has to bargain. She said she felt the prices that they say to her are fair, but she always asks for "yappa" (not sure how to spell), which means the vendor gives her a little something extra--a couple of potatoes, an extra onion, etc. We prepared pork in one clay pot, boiled potatoes in another, and also prepared the favorite Ecuadorian salad of onions, tomatoes, and cilantro + favorite salsa of hot (aji--hotter than jalapenos) peppers, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and limes. When the potatoes were soft, we mashed them in a wooden bowl with wooden pestle and added fresh cheese (another Ecuadorian favorite--the processed cheese is only found in the supermarkets and is very expensive). Then we made potato patties and grilled them in a skillet with achiote oil. Achiote is a red seed (translates to annatto in English, but I am not familiar with annatto) that is added to oil. Everything was yummy.
On Saturday--the largest market day, the instructor drove her car to the gigantic market, El Arenal, where the surrounding villagers bring their fresh produce to sell. We shopped for our food for lunch and she also bought items for her family for the week. First we went to the fish market to buy fresh tuna--we were preparing fish soup. 
Then we went to the section for fruits and vegetables--we bought onions, tomatoes & peppers. The starchy vegetable we used for the soup was yuca--the root of a small tree.
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| Yuca |
We also bought green plantains (not shown) to cook in sunflower seed oil (much like potato chips), but there were more bananas than I had ever seen in one place -- Ecuadors #1 export.
I bought the maracuya fruit (ten for $1) to make fresh juice. The maracuya is cut in half, the inside seeds and pulp are put in a blender, add a little brown sugar; then, strain the seeds out and it is a delicious--and the aroma is wonderful--juice.
There are many traditions here and I want to know the history, but haven't taken the time to read about them. One is the "dressing" of baby Jesus. There are numerous stores with all sizes of baby Jesus and the cloaks/dresses for them. They are very ornate; I can't image the hours it takes to make them. I understand there will be a huge parade on Dec. 24 where there will be a large number of these representations of baby Jesus. 
The second artist works in glass. Verónica Amoroso works at her home/workshop located about 20 min. outside of Cuenca in the small town of
Chuallabamba. She designs the pieces and processes the glass, decorating it and
making useful as well as beautiful. Some of the paints and parts of the process
are her own inventions. Verónica is a self-taught artisan recognized for her
creativity and originality.
