What to eat and drink in Ecuador

06.06.2024 - 11:45 / lonelyplanet.com

With strikingly contrasting geographies packed into just one country, Ecuador’s culinary offerings are as varied and diverse as its four regions. Andean flavors, coastal seafood, Afro-Ecuadorian recipes and Spanish influences converge to create an eclectic and innovative food-and-drink scene. 

While heated debates about which region has the best food are commonplace, Ecuadorians' food-centered culture and strong identity tie all regions together. Ecuadorians pride themselves on their national dishes and are committed to preserving their traditional recipes and introducing them to the global stage. 

Here’s our guide to the popular food and drink experiences you should not miss when landing in Ecuador. 

Rooted in Creole culture and boasting a history spanning over 70 years, chugchucara is one of the most representative dishes from the central highlands. Hailing from the Cotopaxi Province, this savory dish combines a selection of earthy ingredients, including mote (hominy), tostado (toasted corn) and boiled potatoes.

The centerpieces of chugchucara are pork meat and crunchy skin pig pieces fried in large bronze pots (paila de bronce), a once-popular cooking utensil in Ecuadorian kitchens that has now largely been replaced with modern cookware. To balance flavors, this dish, generally plated in large circular trays, also includes maduro (ripe plantain) and empanadas.

Where to try it: While traditional mercados (markets) in Latacunga, Cotopaxi’s capital, will deliver quality takes on this Andean dish, the most popular spot to try it is Chugchucaras La Mamá Negra. Located in central Latacunga, this wood-decorated restaurant is a top recommendation among locals. 

Considered one of the best soup dishes in the world, encebollado is another national favorite. The savory fish stew is one of the top dishes in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest city and main port. 

Believed to help tackle hangovers, this delicious stew is generally eaten in the mornings — although there’s no wrong time or place to eat an encebollado.  

The recipe consists of a yucca (cassava) and albacore base enhanced with pickled onions, coriander and various spices on top. 

Where to try it: Deciding where to snag a bowl of encebollado won’t be an easy task — guayacos (people from Guayaquil) will never agree on just one place and their recommendations will widely vary from street stands to hotel restaurants. That said, some of the highest-rated encebollado restaurants in the city include La Casa del Encebollado and El Pez Volador.

In 2018, researchers traced back the earliest evidence of cacao use to at least 5,300 years ago in present-day Ecuador. Thought to have been initially used in ceremonial rituals, cacao has remained an important part of