At the
beginning of May, I took Ecuadorian cooking classes. These were held at my
friends’, Chavela & Lacey’s, condo and went on for 2 days every week for 1
month.
The first
day, Thursday, our teaching cook, Sandra and her helper/daughter Adriana,
cooked a complete 4 course meal- appetizer, salad, main course and desert.
We
four students avidly watched and took notes as she cooked all of these. There
was a wonderful camaradie between us four students/friends and our instructors
and our host Chavela. Much laughter, girl talk and best of all, mucho espanol!
Of course, the very best part of all, was sitting down and eating this wonderful
healthy complete meal- WOW!
Mixed
Ceviche in Plantain cups
Potato,
carrot, pea & shrimp salad with home-made mayonnaise
Cazuela (
Fish & Plantain stew) & brown rice
Fruit Salad
& Blackberry Juice
The next
day, Friday, we accompanied Sandra to the Mercado in La Libertad and shopped
for any of the ingredients that we needed in order to repeat part or all of the
menu items for our family and/or guests on the weekend. We handed her our
shopping list and she led us to each of the best stores to get our items.
We saw many
sections of the Mercado that we had not visited before. We also were introduced
to the shops that would never charge us gringo prices- yea!
Week 2 was
even better. Again Sandra prepared and
cooked all four items while we watched and took notes. Chavela does send us the
recipes each week, but we take notes on the details so that we can duplicate
these as closely as possible. As well as the recipes, she also sends us a list
of all words used and their Spanish/English translation. Talk about a great
lesson in Spanish as well as cooking!
Deep fried
yucca filled with cheese & Swiss chard with aji (hot) sauce
Multi
colored Salad
Fish Soup
Cake of 3
milks & lemon and Passion Fruit Juice
Week 3
Tomato,
cheese & Basil salad
Pumpkin
& potato soup with garlic bread
Fish with
garlic sauce & brown rice
Sweet Potato
Cake with whipped cream & lemon Juice
Week 4
Salad with
red & green Cabbage
Cream of
Spinach Soup
Chicken Stew
( Seco de Pollo) with brown rice & broccoli and deep fried plantains
Mixed Fruit
& Melon Juice
I consider
this cooking class one of the high lights of my time living here in Salinas.
Who would have thought that there are so many recipes. My husband had jokingly
said when I started the course, ‘so what are you going to learn to cook in four
weeks- different versions of rice & beans’! Boy, did we prove him wrong.
Not only did he have to eat his words- LOL- but the many wonderful dishes I
cooked for him that I had learned in my Ecuadorian Cooking Class- muchas
gracias, Sandra, Adriana and Chavela.
The classes
have now ended in Chavela’s condo- we were the last session. However our
instructor Sandra is available to give cooking classes in your home for 3 to 4
friends or maybe a couples’ lesson in cooking plus the resulting dinner party.
Sandra also can shop and cook a week’s worth of specialized meals for you- for
instance -vegetarian, diabetic, recuperating from hospital stay or just plain ‘don’t
like to cook’- whatever. Please give her a call or email.
Cell: 0999397798 Email: sandryvera@hotmail.es
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