Daily life in the countryside takes place largely around these very traditional trees.
By Sergio Cedeno Amador *
The huge tree Pechiche (Vitex gigantea) It is one of the most popular in the mountainous area of Ecuador, not only for its excellent and incorruptible wood, but also for the delicious sweet pechiche, the most famous dessert of Montuvian gastronomy that is consumed in all the towns precisely at this time of the beginning of the year.
And just as there is a historian in each mountain town, so there is in each town or village the “matrona del dulce de pechiche” and everyone discovers where he lives by the intense and pleasant smell given off by the pot of pechiche in the candle, a smell that reaches the ends of the town.
This beautiful tree that reaches more than 20 meters in height is native to the area between Panama and Peru, but I I think the center of origin is Ecuador due to the abundance of wild trees that exist in the area of Loma Alta, province of Santa Elena, and in other provinces.
The Spanish engineer and soldier Francis Requena in his famous Description of Guayaquil of 1774 comments on the pechiche tree: “It is the wood that most resists time, corruption and the five main enemies: bees, termites, moths, jokers and woodworms.”
Many old houses in Guayaquil and the countryside were built with pechiche wood because it was hard and almost eternal, but pechiche was also widely used for making bateas for washing clothes, canoes, etc.
And the “ancients” say that pechiche coffins have been unearthed that are more than 80 years old in perfect condition and where not even the “rump” remains of the dead.
Recently, on my way back from Baba to Guayaquil, I passed through the town of Jujan, where my dear friend Santiago Medrano Olvera, promoter of the montuvian culture of that area, treated me to the best sweet pechiche in that beloved montuvian town.
The Matapalo, a beautiful assassin
The matapalo is the “precise symbol of the montuvio people”. So says the writer José de la Cuadra in his famous novel The Sangurimas, written in 1934 and where in his “Matapalo Theory”, which is a brief description of the Montuvian people, he relates these trees to members of the Sangurima family.
And adds that “the montuvio people are sown in the countryside, seizing themselves with roots like claws” just as the matapalo does.
The seed of the matapalo, of the ficus species, is spread by bats and when it falls on other trees it grows on them until it strangles them and practically engulfs them.
I recently visited the largest matapalo in the Hacienda Canas (Orangel canton) and inside you could still see a mococha or tagua palm, called vegetable ivory (Phytelephas concolor), which had been devoured by the matapalo.
Despite being a “killer tree”, the matapalo is a beautiful tree and countless birds nest inside it and its trunk serves as a refuge for peccaries, snakes, squirrels, bats, etc.
And De la Cuadra says: “Like those old agricultural trees that, wounded by axes, resprout and resist dying, the people of Montuvia, enduring tremendous evils, cling to life like the subsoil bushes with deep and tenacious roots.”
Annatto, necessary but little known
The achiote (Bixa orellana), originally from Brazil, is spread throughout tropical America and its seeds are essential as flavorings and coloring agents for cheese and butter, but above all for many typical dishes from almost all Latin American countries, from Mexico to Peru.
The seeds contain two coloring pigments: bixin, to give the yellow color, and orellina, to give the red color.
In Ecuador it is inevitable to give “color and flavor” to dried chicken, locro de papas, hayacas, fish casseroles, etc., etc.
The seeds are also rich in vitamin A, and are also used as a healing agent, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, purgative, insect repellent, etc., and In certain areas of the province of Los Ríos, the infusion of the leaves is used to ward off “bad spirits”.
The Tsáchila ethnic group, indigenous natives of the coast of Ecuador, use achiote to paint their hair and body red, for which they are known as the “red Indians”.
The tree is also beautiful and is very common in the “montuvio field” of Ecuador, where its inhabitants always have a small metal container in the kitchen for the tasty achiote. (I)
* Member of the National Academy of History and proud montuvio.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
