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Home / CRUISES / You Visit Some of Ecuador's Most Exciting Food Sites on This Luxurious Cruise

You Visit Some of Ecuador's Most Exciting Food Sites on This Luxurious Cruise

2023-03-08  Maliyah Mah

A brand-new cruise along Ecuador's coast highlights the amazing Indigenous food of the country.

The palo santo tree has long held special significance in the indigenous pharmacy of coastal Ecuador. Its fragrant smoke, which smells of citrus, mint, and pine, is thought to ward off evil spirits and purify the air. Its essential oil may aid in the battle against cancer, and its wood is said to enhance the immune system when used to make tea. Its resin is used to make incense, which New Agey people have recently come to like. It is said to inspire creativity and fight negativity.

One tree is being subjected to a great deal of pressure and anticipation.

Plates of piñuela
 

I can attest to one additional weapon in palo santo's armoury, though, after trying one dish at Bocavaldivia, chef Rodrigo Pacheco's tremendously inventive, forest-huddled eatery outside Puerto Cayo, Ecuador: the capacity to arouse wonder.

The evening I had dinner at Bocavaldivia, Pacheco brought something that wasn't supposed to operate. A delicious raw oyster was perched on top of a manioc blini, a clump of wild mushrooms, and a thick wedge of smoked Muscovy duck. Each part joined the others in a graceful, unexpected chorus while still maintaining its individuality. A palo-santo emulsion served as the catalyst, elevating the earthy ingredients, grounding the sea ones, and bringing them all together in scrumptious harmony.

All of the aforementioned were local species. with the  Guayaquil, the closest large city, is three hours' drive away.

The Valdivia, from which the restaurant gets its name, followed by the Chorrera, the Baha, the Guan gala, and finally the Manteo Huancavelica, whose chiefdoms had been under Inca rule for several decades when the Spanish colonists arrived in the early 1500s, once thrived here amid the coastal jungle, marshy estuaries, and fertile hills of what is now Manab province. Their ancestors have remained in Manabí, where they live in modest indigenous settlements that retain their customs. And today, young Ecuadorians like Pacheco are finding inspiration here. The real source of wisdom, according to him, is nature, and those who preserve it are still alive. The ancient wisdom is "in their soul," as he expressed it.

I travelled to the province of Manab to explore a place that, despite its natural beauty, plethora of species, and ancient history, has mainly remained unknown to tourists. Manab is a region in Ecuador's flyover region. Most tourists visit Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador's biggest towns, and then fly to the Galápagos Islands, more than 600 miles to the west. The fact that Manab's most well-known item doesn't even have a local name is revealing. Although locals have worn hats made from the toquilla palm's fibres for ages, the wide-brimmed kind gained popularity and became linked with Panama in the middle of the 19th century.
Having been raised in Quito and trained in Chile and France, Pacheco had little knowledge of his own country's terroir when he first arrived in the area ten years ago. He wanted to get back to nature. He started restoring a dilapidated 124-acre pepper plantation with his wife Dayra Reyes, which is where Boca Valdivia is now. He gained more knowledge about the maritime, rain-forest, and coastal-transitional environments, as well as the wealth found inside each, from his Indigenous neighbors. He started the restaurant in 2013.

Gabriela Estupiñan
 

The "edible forest," which offers everything from the bamboo cups in which he serves cocktails to the herbs and wild mushrooms that adorn his dishes, is Pacheco's passion. He currently looks after more than 86,000 acres. He removed invasive species to provide room for native ones to thrive. A sizable garden has also been established by him and his staff. He ventures out into the fields, forests, and ocean every morning with a couple of Bocavaldivia's cooks to gather the ingredients for that evening's dinner.

As one of Ecuador's economically poorest provinces, Manab, Pacheco understands the importance of the human component of the ecosystem. In his team, almost everyone is Native American. "I nurture talent in the same way that I nurture plants. The majority of my squad is still in elementary school. Hopefully, they will find work as dishwashers in other places. These are sous-chefs here, he declared. I cook with a goal in mind. Of course I need to pay my bills, but cash is not what drives me.

Pacheco encourages guests, especially Ecuadorians, to recognise the value of their native cuisine. This is more of a learning opportunity than a restaurant, he declared. If the cuisine didn't taste so excellent, this would come out as dogmatic and pretentious. Mahi-mahi was served as a "bar snack" (no tuna, as we only serve sustainably caught fish), with two slices being cured and seared, two being smoked, and the remaining two being served on top of a mound of "earth's caviar" (black quinoa and amaranth) that had been flecked with smoked chilli and cured egg yolk. A humita (basically a type of Ecuadorian tamale), prepared with heirloom black maize, was a wonderland of textures. It was served with succulent sautéed squid (and its crispy fried tentacles) and a red-beet gribiche.

The food is distinctive, even tough. Even the chef's own father finds it difficult to comprehend. Half-smiling, Pacheco answered, "He's more traditional. For instance, caramelised eggplant is poached on top of cheesecake and served with coffee ice cream. "The inspiration came from the garden, where papaya and eggplant occasionally grow side by side. Why not on the menu since they're neighbours in the garden?" he questioned. Unexpectedly, it succeeds.

Rock oyster
 

I travelled an hour northeast to the port city of Manta the following afternoon to board the Kontiki Wayra. The Wayra, formerly a scuba diving boat, has been converted by owner Carlos Nuez into a nine-cabin cruise ship. It joined the Small Luxury Hotels of the World organisation last year and instantly became the group's sole seagoing member.

The Wayra plies the waters off Manabí's coast. In order to understand Manab, one must view it historically. Centuries ago, its inhabitants navigated the Pacific coast on balsa-wood rafts that were bound together with sisal rope and equipped with crescent-shaped sails. They weren't vacation cruises; they were trading missions. The spondylus, a spiny oyster that may be found at depths of up to 100 feet or more, served as the principal unit of exchange. Spondylus shells, which were frequently spiky and vividly red, were utilised for jewellery and religious rites during the pre-Columbian era. It is stated that because these people valued their ability to dive so highly, the Inca never succeeded in subduing them.

Nuez, like Pacheco, is not a Manab native. As the descendant of a family who processed tuna, he was drawn to the region as a child while on vacation. "So many people just think about the Galápagos when they think of Ecuador," he added. There are so many other stunning places, and we're working to increase awareness. Nuez, like Pacheco, has no interest in mindless amusement. He compared "predatory tourism" with "symbiotic tourism," which is based on "mutual respect and shared benefit."

Nuez aimed to incorporate this cultural awareness into the voyage on the Kontiki Wayra. On the menus, classic Ecuadorian meals have been updated. His wife, Soledad, oversaw the Wayra's interior design and hired Ecuadorian craftsmen to produce textiles, furniture, and pottery that were modelled after the surroundings and resources of coastal Manab. We have a tonne of stuff here, Nuez replied. Even Ecuadorians occasionally lack knowledge.

blue-footed
 

The wayra is a suitable vessel for its environment; it is comfortable without being opulent and more robust than stylish. The staterooms are roomy yet inviting and are warmed by the liberal use of hardwood and grass fabric. If the weather is nice, you should step outside to the upper deck's outdoor seating area, where you may relax while sipping a beverage from the bar or experience the inflatable waterslide that plunges you into the turquoise Ocean.

You will feel the water in that ocean, and the staff generously administers Dramamine. The boat's size, however, allows it to travel through narrow bays, such as the one at our first destination, the Isla de la Plata. The Isla de la Plata, a two square mile rock that protrudes out of the sea about 20 miles off the coast, is currently uninhabited. Yet, in ancient times, it functioned as a location for religious ceremonies as well as a home port for the rafts that carried traders to Chile and Mexico in the north and south, respectively.

The Isla de la Plata is commonly referred to as "the poor man's Galápagos," an insulting moniker that makes the inhabitants bristle. They think the island should be recognized for its own merits, which include its breathtaking 1,000-foot ocean-facing cliffs, rare plants, such as the red lily (Eurasia stricklandii), which blooms only in October and is virtually unheard of anywhere else, and archaeological wealth, including remnants of those long-ago trading expeditions and pre-Columbian artefacts.

Kontiki Wayra
 

The island, which is protected as a part of Mahaila National Park, may only have 176 visitors every day. The relative lack of human interference has benefited birds. Below are waved albatrosses that are critically endangered. While we hiked, long-tailed mockingbirds chased each other and accompanied us. Red-billed tropic birds and magnificent frigate birds patrolled the cliffs from the air, the males of which inflate scarlet sacs on their necks to entice females.

An aggressive campaign to eradicate rats has recently increased bird populations, especially those of ground-nesting species. 'Ten years ago, you would have seen rats roaming about everywhere, like they were squirrels,' the tour guide Sandra Pla Albán remarked. Pla Albán abruptly halted and pointed as we passed through the scrub-covered plateau on the western side of the island, saying, "There! There!" It took me a while for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I saw a mother and chick of two Anthony's nightjars, nocturnal birds that only inhabit a little arc running south from Ecuador to Peru. They were expertly disguised against the beiges and browns of the terrain.

The blue-footed boobies are unquestionably the local prima donnas. These birds would be the influencers on Instagram since they are endearing, attractive, and fearless. One booby stood in our way as we ascended a path deep inside the island. She looked at us and cocked her head as if to inquire about our readiness. She then started to strut, bringing attention to her feet with each stride because they were so blue they appeared to have been stained by the azure waters of the sea. A nesting couple farther down the walk observed us as we approached and then, as if for the cameras, touched beaks.

Bocavaldivia
 

Our next stop was the run-down fishing village of Puerto López. We docked slightly offshore, and inflatable boats took us to the beach where we boarded a minibus to travel seven miles inland to the little Indigenous community of Agua Blanca.

Agua Blanca has been well-known for its hot springs for ages. The 86 households of the village have recently improved the tourist infrastructure by highlighting abundant archaeological evidence of their history. A member of the neighborhood showed us burial urns that had been unearthed by a landslide in 1982 and dated to at least 150 B.C. We also visited the remains of a pre-Columbian family residence that had been unearthed by a team under the direction of a Scottish archaeologist in the 1980s.

After a brief trek through the woods, we arrived at a clearing surrounded by a ficus tree's languid branches. Pinion Merchant, the head shaman of Agua Blanca, had outlined a labyrinth in the ground. A modest altar was located at its middle.

Each of us received a candle and a stick of palo Santo wood from Merchant. He invited us to light them both, place them on the altar, and say our prayers in silence. Following that, he led a litany of blessings, each one directed in one of the following seven directions: east, south, west, north, sky, ground, and lastly, "the point at which all the winds cross. I salute you all from the bottom of my heart and pray for blessings on your homes, relationships, communities, and countries, he continued.

The invitation to take part in the ceremony, according to Nuez, was extended following consultations with the neighborhood: "This is a first for foreigners." Nonetheless, I couldn't help but feel as though we had engaged in some sort of cultural voyeurism. Merchant, however, showed no signs of worry and found no incompatibility between traditional Indigenous spirituality and Christianity. “I believe in a single God, yet creation has many different ways that God is expressed.”

Walking a trail

 

Merchán claimed to have sensed the presence of God in the breezes, the rustle of the trees' leaves, and the Buenavista River's waters, which flows through Agua Blanca. Its river no longer flows much at all for most of the year. But, in earlier times, his ancestors would launch small rafts into the ocean, anchor them at the Isla de la Plata, and then board bigger rafts to go to other locations. Not only did they bring back products, but also new customs. He thought that components from the Indigenous peoples of Mexico were incorporated into the rites of his community: “Maya? Aztec? I'm not sure.

Simply a new version of an old system of cultural exchange, our visit was. Merchán said, "I feel delight," when given the chance to welcome and bless those from outside his community.

On the third day, we anchored near the Bahia de Caráquez, where the Chone River empties into the ocean. Manab is a significant cocoa-growing region, so after visiting an organic farm, where we sampled a variety of heirloom chocolate, we took a drive up into the coastal hills to a restaurant and culinary centre called Iche for lunch.

Iche imaginatively reinvents Macnab's gastronomic history. A snapper carpaccio that is topped with peanut and leche de tigre ice cream, the zesty marinade commonly used for ceviche, captures the essence and flavors of a Menabitan ceviche. A vibrant salad of amaranth, chicory, and purslane is served with the confit heirloom hen, which is prepared in the manner of a traditional meal called seco de gallina criolla. It is also served over jerén de maiz, a related type of native corn polenta.

Following lunch, we met the restaurant's cook Valentina Alvarez in front of the Manabita oven, a large wooden box that is filled with clay pots and earth and has multiple semi-circular slits that may be lit like small fire pits. It's more than just a kitchen here, she remarked. It's where we exchange customs, religious beliefs, and trade secrets.

Sunset
 

According to Alvarez, the growth of industrial agriculture has harmed small-scale Manabita farming. She was raised on heritage maize, which is getting harder to find. "This is a really jealous corn," she remarked. It dislikes the presence of other maize kinds growing nearby. Growing close to the industrial crop prevents it from thriving, and worse, cross-pollination has tampered with its genes.

In Manabí, peanut has equal significance because the word iche, from which the restaurant gets its name, may either mean "peanut" or "excellent meal" in the local language.

"The flavour of peanut. There is love. That is flavour. It means everything to us," Alvarez said. "We used to have fifteen different types here, but monoculture is causing us to lose them. The creation of heirloom varieties is something we're striving to promote because diversity equals sustainability.

Ice's work is divided into several different parts, including the dining room. Extraction of oils, dehydration of fruits, fermentation of products, production of vinegar, and predistillation of spirits are some of the methods being tested in its food lab to preserve and unleash the value of ancestral crops. Students in a seven-month culinary training programmed that teaches both contemporary cooking techniques and a greater understanding of Indigenous floodways mostly made our dinner. Adriana Arellano, a co-founder of Iche, said, "We provide our students with the skills and knowledge to develop and produce sustainable food. They act as spokespersons for the novel Menabitan cuisine. They can advance it further, perhaps all the way to the world.

Murciélago Beach
 

We docked in San Mateo on our final stop in Manabí and travelled 15 minutes by car to the Pioche Marine Wildlife Reserve. Guide Carlos Alvia started narrating the botaniscape in rapid-fire fashion just fifty yards along a wooded path: Piuela is beneficial for eating and fencing, but in excess, it has laxative effects. If you combine ortiga (nettle) with aloe vera for shampoo, it can aid with alopecia and circulation. Malanga is a plant with large leaves that gather water ("look for it for survival") and a root that is eaten because it tastes similar to a potato and is high in vitamin D.

Alvia shed light on things in the jungle that we couldn't see. That cup-like structure made of tiny branches and spiderweb that was concealed by a bamboo forest? He explained, "The nest of an Amazilia hummingbird. There was a passage next to the path that animals, "perhaps an armadillo, pig, or ocelot," had built and used. Some leaves had been pushed back and some vegetation had been cleared away.

Alvia rushed ahead, delicately reached a hand into the leaf litter, and then raised it up to present a frog no bigger than a fingernail: a machalilla. This happened as we dropped into a valley and the air became more humid. The frog was carrying what appeared to be a mouthful of caviar on its back—the eggs for the following generation.

This was shared land when Alvia was a young child. It had no owner. Everyone made use of it to gather mushrooms, hunt, and harvest wood. Alvia didn't fully appreciate all the forest had to offer until he started working as a guide. It serves as a home, a pharmacy, a pantry, and a workshop.

He expects that the Pacoche Refuge will continue to be revered for many years to come, since the remainder of Manab is already attracting an increasing number of tourists. "You can defend an area when you know it," he remarked. And because I adore this location, I want to share it with everyone.

From Farm to Coast: Ecuador

Places to Stay

Tanus as: The boutique hotel in Puerto Cayo next to Boca Valdivia, the eatery of chef Rodrigo Pacheco, offers magnificent views of the beach and Pacific Ocean from nearly every room.

Places to Eat

At Boca Valdivia, chef Rodrigo Pacheco and his staff prepare multicourse sampling feasts in homage to Ecuador's culinary tradition without following a set menu.

Ice: An creative take on traditional ingredients and cooking methods, Iche is both a culinary training facility and a restaurant that honours the cuisine of the Manab area. Cocktails created with locally redistilled spirits are offered at the bar.

Steps to Take

Konicki Expeditions: Three hours' drive northwest of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, is the port of Manta, where the nine-cabin Kontiki Wayra sets sail.


2023-03-08  Maliyah Mah