Ecuador News

Hailing from Louisiana, I’ve weathered many summers with 90-plus straight days of temperatures above 100 and humidity to match. A quick trip outside my home would have sweat droplets as big as buckshot scattered across my forehead and rivulets of the same running down my cheeks. I grew up living on a bayou in Louisiana....

Editor’s note: Michelle’s Foods of The Americas series continues this week with the first of a three-column series on squash, the noblest of vegetables. By Michelle Bakeman The following is an excerpt from “The Pumpkin,” by fireside poet John Greenleaf Whittier: On the banks of the Xenil the dark Spanish maiden Comes up with the...

Editor’s note: Michelle’s Foods of The Americas series on tomatoes continues this week with a surprising account of the origin of everyone’s favorite condiment, ketchup. Click here to read Part I about the origins of the tomato, and click here to read Part II as the tomato makes its culinary journey across the ocean from...

What was life like in Ecuador prior to antibiotics? In a word: short. For people with bacterial infections, life was cruel… but of course, not just in Ecuador. As described by the American Chemical Society, “Before [penicillin was introduced] there was no effective treatment for infections such as pneumonia, gonorrhea or rheumatic fever. Hospitals were...

Editor’s note: Michelle’s Foods of The Americas series continues this week with the third of four fascinating accounts of the tomato’s impact on global cuisine. Click here to read Part I about the surprising origins of the tomato, and click here to read Part II as it makes its culinary journey across the ocean from...

By Michelle Bakeman Two centuries after the tomato was introduced to Europe, finally victorious over years of attempted character assassination, the fruit began to win a place of honor in the kitchens of the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italians were industriously employing it wherever they wanted to add color...

There’s a saying attributed to more than one male philosopher that says, “Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.” Education is no doubt, important. It is a key component of lifelong success. It’s important to develop skills so...