Ecuador

🇦🇷Argentina

Aguardiente

An Argentine spirit distilled from sugarcane or grapes, drunk neat or in cocktails in the northwest. A strong, clear liquor, often homemade in the Andean provinces.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Alfajor Ecuatoriano

Alfajor

An Ecuadorian alfajor is a tender cornstarch cookie sandwich filled with manjar and often rolled in coconut.

🇬🇺Guam

Annatto

Roucou

The red seeds of the Bixa orellana shrub (lipstick tree); used as a condiment and natural food coloring; gives dishes a deep orange-red colour; a staple ingredient in French Guianese and Amazonian cuisine.

🇪🇨Arequipa, Ecuador

Arroz con Camarones

An Ecuadorian coastal rice dish with shrimp, peppers, tomatoes and annatto, cooked into a colorful one-pot meal similar to a Latin American paella.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Arroz con Menestra y Carne Asada

White rice with lentil or bean menestra, grilled steak, plantains and avocado, a filling Ecuadorian coastal plate.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Arroz con Pato

Ecuadorian duck and rice cooked with beer, cilantro and spices until the rice is tinted green and the duck is tender. A special-occasion dish.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Arroz con Pollo Ecuatoriano

Arroz con pollo

Ecuadorian chicken and rice tinted yellow with achiote and spices, cooked with peas, carrots and peppers. Served with fried plantain and salad.

🇪🇨Oriente (Amazonian Ecuador), Ecuador

Ayampaco

Amazonian fish or chicken is seasoned, wrapped in bijao leaves and cooked over embers until the parcel steams in its own juices.

🇦🇷Argentina

Bizcochuelo

An Argentine sponge cake of flour, eggs, and sugar, used as a base for layered cakes and birthdays. Light and airy, it is split and filled with dulce de leche and cream.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Bocadillo

An Ecuadorian sweet of panela and coconut cut into firm, sugary squares. Chewy, pale and often served at festivals and markets.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Bollos de Pescado

Coastal Ecuadorian tamales combine green plantain dough with seasoned fish, then steam the parcels in banana leaves.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Bolón de Verde

Mashed green plantains stuffed with cheese or chicharrón and fried into a crisp-edged ball, a filling coastal Ecuadorian breakfast.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Café Pasado

Traditional Ecuadorian filtered coffee, sweet and dark, often served with a small piece of cheese or bread for breakfast.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Caldo de Bolas de Verde

An Ecuadorian soup of green plantain balls stuffed with meat, in a savory broth with peanuts and vegetables, a coastal classic.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Caldo de Manguera

A thick Ecuadorian blood and rice sausage soup, made from pork blood stuffed into a casing and cooked in a savory broth with yuca and potatoes.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Caldo de Pata

A thick Ecuadorian cow-foot soup with peanuts, yuca, corn and potatoes, slow-cooked until the broth is milky and the meat falls from the bone.

🇨🇴Antioquia, Colombia

Calentado

The Paisa working-man breakfast: yesterday's rice, beans and plantain refried together and topped with a fried egg, cheese, chorizo or chicharrón — calentado means "heated". Equally at home on Ecuadorian coast tables.

🇨🇴Nariño, Colombia

Canelazo

An Ecuadorian Andean hot drink of aguardiente, cinnamon, panela, and fruit juice (naranjilla or mora), a festive and cold-weather classic.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Cangrejo Asado

Grilled crab from the Ecuadorian coast, seasoned with garlic, lime and spices and served with green plantain and aji. Common in Manabí and Esmeraldas.

🇪🇨Sierra (Andean Highlands), Ecuador

Carne Colorada

Imbabura beef is marinated with achiote, garlic and cumin, grilled or pan-seared, then sliced for a plate with potatoes and avocado.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Cazuela de Gallina

A thick Ecuadorian hen stew with potatoes, yuca, plantain and a peanut or milk base. A hearty highland comfort dish.

🇨🇴Colombia

Cazuela de Mariscos

A Colombian seafood stew of fish, shrimp, squid, and mussels in a coconut-milk and tomato broth, served in a clay pot. A coastal specialty, rich and hearty.

🇵🇪Lima, Peru

Ceviche

Fresh raw fish cured in lime juice with red onion, aji amarillo, and cilantro. Peru's national dish.

🇪🇨Costa (Coastal Ecuador), Ecuador

Ceviche de Conchas Negras

A short-season black scallop ceviche from Piura and Tumbes, prized for its intense flavor.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Ceviche de Ostiones

Ecuadorian oyster ceviche in a tangy tomato-lime sauce with onions, cilantro and peppers. Served cold with chifles.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Chicha de Chonta

An Ecuadorian Amazonian fermented drink from chonta (peach palm) fruit, a Shuar and festive classic.

🇧🇴Sierra (Andean Highlands), Bolivia

Chicha de Jora

Ancestral fermented corn beer from the Andes, made from germinated maize. Had ritual and social importance in the Inca Empire.

🇨🇺Cuba

Chicha de Piña

An Ecuadorian fermented pineapple peel drink with cinnamon and panela, a coastal and home classic.

🇪🇨Oriente (Amazonian Ecuador), Ecuador

Chicha de Yuca

A fermented yuca drink prepared in Ecuador's Oriente and served at Amazonian community gatherings.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Chicken Soup

Caldo de gallina

An Ecuadorian chicken soup with potatoes, onions, and herbs, a comfort and hangover classic.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Chifles

Ecuadorian thin, crispy fried green plantain chips

🇦🇷Argentina

Choclo

Large-kernel Andean corn served boiled with cheese, sauces or ceviche across Peru and neighboring countries.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Chocolate de Salinas

Thick, unsweetened Ecuadorian hot chocolate from Salinas de Guaranda, made with local cacao and served with cheese to dip. A highland specialty.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Chontacuro

Edible palm worm from the Ecuadorian Amazon, grilled on skewers or eaten raw. A high-protein Amazonian delicacy with a creamy, nutty flavor.

🇧🇷Oriente (Amazonian Ecuador), Brazil

Chontaduro

A palm fruit native to the Colombian Pacific and Amazon, with orange-red skin and starchy yellow flesh. Eaten with salt or honey, a staple of Pacific cuisine. On Cali streets the boiled fruit is sold in paper bags with salt and lime (chontaduro con sal).

🇪🇨Latacunga, Ecuador

Chugchucaras

A Latacunga dish of fried pork, mote, potatoes, plantains, empanadas, and pork rinds with ají, a hearty and festive classic.