Cuenca’s bread-making tradition continues; Segovia, Medina exhibit at Escuela Central; Dance Festival at Casa de la Cultura; Ecuador bolónes are semi-finalists

Exposición en Escuela Central – The exhibit, “Búsqueda y Encuentros,” will have works by both Eduardo Segovia and Luis Alberto Medina.  The show opened last Friday.  Segovia is known for his ceramic art, but will show his paintings too.  Medina is a painter originally from Quito.

IV Festival de Danza – The IV Festival de Danza Contemporánea y Experimental, ‘Cuerpos elementales,’ will be held from el 2 al 6 de septiembre in the Sala Alfonso Carrasco in the Casa de la Cultura.  The festival will bring creators and collectives who explore the body through dance <Isn’t that what lap dancers do?>.  There will also be workshops, meetings and live presentations.  The workshops will be held from el 2 al 5/9 from 18:30 a 20:30 in the Catalina Sojos auditorium.  Contact 099 480 3628 or by email: cuerposelementalesii@gmail.com. Cost: $20.00.  <How much does a lap dance cost?>

The “Santo Pan” business next to the Todo Santos church has the oldest wood-fired oven registered in Cuenca. Oblate nuns once used the structure to develop their recipes.

‘Goku’ y ‘Vegeta’ en el Comic Con – The Spanish language voices for the Japanese anime characters ‘Goku’ y ‘Vegeta’ in the ‘Dragon Ball’ series will be in Cuenca for the Comic Con this coming 27 & 28/9. Mario Catañeda, the voice of ‘Cadaroto’ and René García, the voice of the sayayín prince will be in the Convention Center at Mall del Río. In addition, Hiroshi Tokoro ‘Jiban,’ and David Yost who played the Blue Power Ranger ‘Billy’ will be in attendance. <I have no idea who or what any of these shows are. I think I’m too old to have watched them. If we’d had a TV, my childhood show would have been Howdy Doody. I was even too old for Captain Kangaroo.>

El ‘Horno Madre’ de Cuenca – The oldest wood burning oven is in the traditional neighborhood of Todos Santos which has 5 bakeries still using wood fired ovens for their bread.  The oldest is used by the nuns of the Madres Oblatas who have baked bread in this oven for decades.  Since last December, a young couple has taken over the tradition, naming their business Santo Pan and baptizing the oven as “Horno Madre” de la ciudad de Cuenca.  They are keeping the ancestral recipes  while offering a larger variety of breads.  One of the first products was the popular Rodilla de Cristo (Christ’s Knees).

Other bakeries are on Mariano Cueva between Juan Jarmillo and Calle Large and are housed in historic houses of bareque (similar to wattle and daub) and teja (roof tiles), and are much loved by tourists, especially foreigners.  One of the most traditional bakeries is the 90 year old Panadería Tenemea run by the 3d generation of bakers.  At the corner of Mariano Cueva y Juan Jaramillo is a house which has 4 wood burning ovens inside.  These are used to bake bread and roast pigs, turkeys, chickens and cuyes which are sent to Cuencanos who migrated to the US.  <I wonder how they get all that chancho and cuy to the US before it goes bad?  I imagine some of you don’t think cuy could ever be good to start with.>

El bolón, la receta popular sin igual – This Ecuadorian dish is in the semi-final of the ‘Mundial de Desayunos,’ competing against Perú which is fielding a bread with chicharrón and tamales.  The contest is being organized by the Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos.  The only way to vote is on the social networks of Ibai Llanos:  Instagram – @ibaillanos;  TikTok – @ibaillanos;  and YouTube — channel of Ibai Llanos in the Shorts section.  Llanos has published a short video which present the two competing countries.  Find the comment where it says “Ecuador,” (with the flag <assuming you know what the Ecuadorian flag looks like>).  “Like” that comment.  Each “like” is a vote for Ecuador.

If you want to try bolones, which is a dish originating on the coast <duh…isn’t that where the bananas grow?>, there are several restaurants that serve them.  ‘Bolón Ágape’ is on Luis Cordero y Juan Jaramillo and serves them with a fried egg and beef cooked with tomato and onion or with ribs or with seco de pollo.  “Hot Coffee” is at Pres. Córdova y Luis Cordero and you can order a plain bolón which is with either cheese or chicharron or a “compuesto” which has cheese, chicharrón and bacon.  The most ordered is the coastal plate: 2 bolones, a fried egg, salad and coffee.  <The first one I ever had pretty much got stuck in my mouth – kind of like swiping peanut butter onto the roof of your dog’s mouth.  Homemade ones I’ve had after that were much better.  Also I think they’re an acquired taste, and the homemade were more generous with the cheese and chicharrón.>

Novedosas propuestas culinarias – The tourism boom in Cuenca is increasing and the food scene is booming as well.  Here are 2 new restaurants with innovative menus.  Lua is in the sector of av. 12 de Abril and Calle del Faro.  The small restaurant is run by chef Juan José Martínez, with 20 years of experience cooking in Quito, Atlanta and Sao Paulo, and his partner Soledad Burbano.  The creative dishes are presented with generous portions <super-sized for hungry gringos who are looking to put on even more weight?>  Some of his most popular dishes are ‘Sushi Nachos’  which is a deconstruction of a roll using seaweed, rice paper, salmon, shrimp and fresh vegetables bathed in an oriental sauce.  <I doubt he’s using the Oriental brand of sauces you can get at Supermaxi.>  Another dish is ‘Smash de Onion Soup’ which is a burger with gouda and a French Onion Soup dip.  Also popular is the ‘Mac and Ribs’ with melt in your mouth ribs that have been cooked for 24 hours then smoked over apple wood.  The ribs are covered with pineapple BBQ sauce and served over a bed of macaroni.  Desserts include traditional apple pie <whose tradition?> and ‘Snickers brownie’.  The coffee is unlimited – a bottomless cup.

Paolo Cahuana’s childhood dream was to have his own restaurant.  Aldea opened a few weeks ago on the 2nd floor of the Seminario San Luis.  The menu has traditional items with a personal touch.  Cahuana starts his day early and serves breakfasts such as French toast, pancakes with bacon, to tigrillos with fried eggs and chicharrón.  The menu includes starters, pinchos, salads, chorizos, cuts of premium meat, seafood, pastas, moros, grilled burgers, sandwiches, desserts, cocktails and other beverages.

Bon apetit;  buen provecho;  rubadub, bring on the grub.
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.