Cocolón: Home recipes with flavors from the Coast

When I arrived in Guayaquil in 1980, the FAE lived in the citadel and studied at the San José La Salle school. I remember returning home at lunchtime by express, like everyone else at that time, when leaving I would find the gooseberries, mangoes and plums (obos in the mountains) and we ate them all green and with salt, very rare for me in that era; now I understand them perfectly. The slushies, well, they were known … all this marked the memory of everyone in the family.

The gastronomic habits in those years were different. Homemade mountain cuisine, rich in Andean products and traditions, was not widely known on the coast, and in the same way, the coastal customs with their fish, greens, peanuts, etc.

So some of my first impressions, I remember, were the gastronomic impact, finding dishes and flavors that I had not tasted. I must admit that my mother has a great season and we always enjoy her good cooking at home, but there were new dishes that we were all discovering with pleasure.

I remember a nice lady who collaborated at home. When we arrived, he prepared us typical dishes from the coast. In addition to working with us at home, she had a typical food kiosk somewhere in the south of Guayaquil, those that were made of wood like a little house in the middle of the sidewalk with chairs around, very picturesque, it resembled a bar where all the customers sat around the kitchen.

I have never seen them again, it is one of the postcards that were lost from Guayaquil, I have very clear the image of the kitchen full of pots, dispatching the dishes to their customers, the drinks were queues of brands that no longer exist, national music and good, good seasoning.

A few years ago we started touring the city looking for dishes for our cookbook Guayaquil over low heat, I found some dishes that were prepared in these kiosks that I share with you. Dessert is not, but I think it fits on the Cocolón menu this week. I hope you like it.

Fish stew

Ingredients:

• 1 fish fillet, can be beaked or browned
• 1 red onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 bundle of coriander
• 1 medium yucca
• 1 green banana
• 1 sweet potato
• Vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of achiote paste
• Comino
• Shall
• Pepper
• Lemon

How to do it:

1. Julienne the onion, peppers, garlic and previously peeled tomato.
2. Sauté it in oil with the annatto paste slowly until it releases its juice.
3. Add the tied stems of the cilantro, cover and reserve.
4. Cut into small uniform pieces and cook the yucca, sweet potato and green plantain in water until they are soft and add to the previous preparation, with a little water from their cooking.
5. Cut the fish fillets, season them with salt, pepper, cumin, add them to the previous preparation, cover and cook for about 10 minutes over low heat.
6. At the end add chopped cilantro and serve with rice and lemon.

Torrejas broth

Ingredients for the broth:

• 1 pound rib and beef pulp
• 1 red onion
• 1 vere pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 bundle of coriander
• Water
• 1 pound potatoes
• ½ col
• 2 corn
• Annatto oil
• Vegetable oil

For the torrejas:

• 1 pearl onion
• 1 white onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Annatto oil
• 2 pieces of old bread
• ¼ liter of milk
• 2 eggs
• Cooked and minced meat from the soup
• Parsley
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil

How to do it:

1. Chop the red onion, green pepper, tomato and garlic very fine, make a sauce with them in achiote oil and reserve.
2. Besides, brown the meat and ribs previously minced in oil, when they are golden brown, add the previous refried, cover with water, season with salt, cumin, tied with coriander stems and cook for approximately two hours until soft.
3. Remove part of the cooked meat for the torrejas.
4. Add the chopped potatoes, julienned chopped cabbage and chopped corn, cook until everything is soft, add more water until it covers all the mixture.
5. Make a fry with the pearl and white onions, green pepper, garlic in achiote oil.
6. Add the minced meat and reserve.
7. Chop the bread and soak it with milk, mix with the fry, add the eggs, chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.
8. Form flattened round portions (torrejas) and brown them in oil on both sides.
9. Serve the broth with the torrejas inside.

Banana cake with figs

Ingredients:

• 250 g banana
• 3 egg units
• 250 g brown sugar
• 125 ml whole milk
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 230 g of flour
• 6 g baking soda
• 40 g of figs in panela honey
• 2 g ground cinnamon
• 5 g of vanilla essence

Glazed:

• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 110 g caster sugar
• 3 units of figs drained

How to do it:

1. Melt the butter. Reserve.
2. Cut the banana into slices and mash it.
3. Beat the banana with the brown sugar for 5 minutes using the blender’s shield (medium speed).
4. Add the eggs at room temperature and beat for 5 minutes (medium speed).
5. Add the milk, the butter at room temperature, the vanilla essence, the ground cinnamon and the drained figs cut into small cubes.
6. Incorporate the flour previously mixed with the bicarbonate and integrate by hand with enveloping movements.
7. Place in a greased and floured mold.
8. Bake at 170 ° C for approx. 45 minutes.
9. For the glaze, place the powdered sugar in a bowl and add the milk little by little until a thick but flowing texture is achieved.
10. Decorate with the glaze and chopped figs.