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Ecuadorian Fritada Recipe

Fritada is a classic dish, part and parcel of the rich Ecuadorian cuisine dear to me, especially as a Mestizo. In Ecuador, Mestizo consists of the majority of the Ecuadorian population, with 71.9% of individuals living in Ecuador identifying as Mestizo (Nagar et al. pg. 8). Those who identify as Mestizo primarily reside in urban areas and speak Spanish as their native language. Fritada originated at the start of the 19th century, during the colonial era, as a traditional dish from the highlands of Ecuador. Fritada is very dear to me, considering I come from the highlands of Ibarra, the capital of Imbabura Province. The dish is made from pork meat, potatoes, onions, garlic gloves, beer, achiote oil, and other spices.

The ingredients alone of Fritada represent the richness of Ecuadorian culture with various external influences that have been felt over the years. Pork, to start with, is not native to Mestizo culinary recipes. The reason is that Spanish colonizers introduced pork meat during the 19th-century colonial rule, but it has become part of the Mestizo cooking culture through integration over the years (Newson et al. pg. 4). As opposed to other parts of the world where pork is shunned due to religious beliefs, Ecuadorians embrace it, especially during charismas and New Year’s celebration events. Potatoes and Achiote Oil can be considered to be native to Ecuador due to their long history of being cultivated in the Americas over the years. With the rest of the ingredients not being native to Ecuador, it demonstrates how integrating different cultures can result in a fantastic dish that individuals of a particular area can enjoy.

To start with the preparation of Fritada, pork is diced into cubes, with preference for this dish being mostly the shoulder or belly of the pig. Once the pork has been diced into cubes, it is seasoned with pepper, some garlic, and salt, and the mixture is left to marinate for about thirty minutes for the flavours to mix well. The marinated pork cubes are then put in hot oil, where garlic cloves and chopped onions are added and stirred until the water evaporates from the pork. Beer is added as the water dries in small portions, and cooking continues until the pork cubes turn to colour brown. Peeled potatoes are placed in water and boiled in a separate cooking pot until cooked adequately. The cooked potatoes are then strained from the water they were cooked in and smashed while achiote oil is added to the mashed potatoes. Dough can be prepared thirty minutes before cooking to ensure it rises well and gives the best results when cooked. Circles of dough are then made from the prepared dough, and cheese is added to them after preparation. The dough is then fried to a golden-brown color or as preferred by the individual taking the dish. After preparation, the dish can be plated well and garnished with cilantro, an herb. It can also be served with a side of rice, which the individual taking the Fritada prefers.

Preparation and consumption of Fritada preserve the Mestizo subculture in ways like promoting its culinary tradition, the continual use of local ingredients, promoting social connections, and enabling tourism and cultural exchange. Preparing Fritada is a way to continually advance the culinary tradition of the Mestizo subculture, as most of the recipes have been passed down from one generation to another with different variations depending on the family’s preference. Depending of the economic status of a particular family, the ingredients they could afford would be what they would use with some family having the ability to use more ingredients than others. The community agricultural sector can benefit by continually using local ingredients such as potatoes and achiote oil since the farmers are financially empowered. Social connections are also strengthened through eating Fritada. Such happens during gatherings such as Christmas or birthdays, where the event host has prepared Fritada. By different strangers coming together to share a plate of Fritada, they interact in the process and can make more friends and grow as a result of such friendships. Due to Fritada’s uniqueness to the Ecuadorian culture, many people are curious to taste the dish. As a result, many travel to Ecuador to enjoy the dish, as they can only enjoy it in its authentic form if it is prepared by locals using local ingredients. Foreign exchanges coming into Ecuador due to their rich culture motivate them to cherish their culture and do all they can to preserve the traditions they have inherited from the different generations.

In the same way, La Tolita artifacts are highly prized worldwide with their roots in Ecuador; Fritada is equally dearly prized in the hearts of the people of Mestizo. This is because Fritada is a cultural symbol in itself; it also has a historical context, is culturally significant to the Mestizo people, is also an economic empowerment tool, and is a global identifier for Ecuador. The dish is a cultural symbol as it maps out the community’s historical interaction with different cultures, such as Spain and other parts of the world, due to the variation of its ingredients (Rojas et al., pg. 28). It also brings some historical significance to the community as it is a representation of the effect the colonial era had on Ecuador in general as seen from the integration of pork which was not the case before the colonial era. The uptake of Fritada by most of the population, Mestizo, presents a significant market opportunity for those who sell Fritada ingredients. It is a substantial boost to Ecuador’s Ecuador’s agricultural sector, especially considering that ingredients such as pork, potatoes, and achiote oil are native to the country; hence, local farmers benefit from Fritada preparation. Fritada is also an artifact because it is a global identifier of the Mestizo people. Such stems from its uniqueness to the Mestizo people due to their blend of local and rich ingredients to create the fantastic dish. For individuals to experience the dish in its authentic form, they would need to travel to Ecuador, which puts the country at a good place in the global rank.

It is only possible to learn the history and significance of Fritada and be impressed by how important the dish is to the Mestizo people, considering how impressive it is to the taste buds simultaneously. I, therefore, wanted to learn how the older generations’ perspective is thinking they have lived to see the evolution of the dish over the years, and for sure, I was impressed by the response. My mother, Azucena Proano, was born and raised in Ibarra province. She would often joke that the first food she was given after stopping breastfeeding was a Fritada. The first words after “mama” and “papa” were “more fritada, please,” “.. that’s how you know the baby is a real Ecuadorian,” she would say. She comes second to my grandmother on the list of the best cooks of Fritada, and the immense number of different variations of preparing Fritada that she knows made me lose count a long time ago. Due to the different ways of preparing Fritada that have evolved, she would say, “You think Fritada has evolved? Maybe! But the real evolution is the number of napkins that I have seen people need to clean up the mess after having a good plate of Fritada”.

We would burst out laughing after such comments. She would also highlight the change she has seen in the province over the years of economic growth. She would say back in the day, Fritada was prepared as part of people having a great time. Every family knew how to make their own Fritada depending on the family recepie passed down from their grandmothers, so she would tell me it was not that big of a deal. She would say whenever she went back to the province, she would notice a few changes each year compared to the previous year she had visited. Globalization has changed the earlier dynamics of social interactions. She told me that households around the province are still making good Fritada, but economic pressures have forced individuals to focus on other careers, leaving the hotel industry mainly in the business of making Fritada. I had also observed the same trend when I visited the place but could not make the connection with the past since I was not there to experience it at the time. With the recent increase in the cases of cardiovascular diseases due to the continuous uptake of saturated fats, there is a concern about the prolonged uptake of Fritada. According to de Jesus Santana et al. (pg. 334), Fritada, which commonly utilizes pork, has high amounts of fats unsuitable for an individual’s long-term health.

In conclusion, looking into Fritada beyond its impressive culinary richness reveals a global trend in the dynamics of culture and tradition facing modern civilization. From its simplicity before the 19th century to the richness it has carried with it over the years, its evolution has also reflected in the individuals cherishing it. Through the lens of my mother, through his many recounts of the history of our culture with Fritada at the center of it all, I have understood the shift in the social fabric of Ecuadorian life. With globalization reshaping the traditional lifestyles of individuals, forcing them to concentrate now on careers, a balance between the dietary concerns of conventional foods and culture should be at the forefront. With mixed feelings arising on the health concerns of uptake of Fritada, its contribution to the Ecuadorian culture is so immense, with parts of Ecuadorian identity tied to it. At the end of the day, when we talk about Fritada, the conversation is not just about Fritada as a dish but about lifestyle. It’s a story about how resilient culture can be amidst difficulties such as colonization, bonding with different individuals through various events where Fritada is shared, and the courage to honor the past while being ready to embrace the future.

Works Cited

Gleiciane de Jesus Santana, Natanael de Jesus Silva, Jamille Oliveira Costa, Cecília Maria Passos Vásquez, Tiago Marcel Santos Vila-Nova, Diva Aliete dos Santos Vieira, Liliane Viana Pires2 , Andhressa Araújo Fagundes, and Kiriaque Barra Ferreira Barbosa.”Contribution of minimally processed and ultra-processed foods to the cardiometabolic risk of Brazilian young adults: A cross-sectional study.” Nutricion Hospitalaria 38.2 (2021): 328-36. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natanael-Silva-6/publication/349329348_Contribution_of_minimally_processed_and_ultra-processed_foods_to_the_cardiometabolic_risk_of_Brazilian_young_adults_a_cross-sectional_study/links/6075be5d4585151ce182d041/Contribution-of-minimally-processed-and-ultra-processed-foods-to-the-cardiometabolic-risk-of-Brazilian-young-adults-a-cross-sectional-study.pdf

Newson, Linda A. Life and death in early colonial Ecuador. Vol. 214. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8061-2697-3

Rojas-Le-Fort, M., Valdivieso-López, I.P. & Duarte-Casar, R. Representations of Ecuadorian cuisine in the coast and the highlands regions through the free listing technique. Discov Food3, 20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44187-023-00061-9

Shashwat Deepali Nagar, Andrew B. Conley, Aroon T. Chande, Lavanya Rishishwar, Shivam Sharma, Leonardo Marin˜o-Ramı´rez, Gabriela Aguinaga-Romero, Fabricio Gonza’lez-Andrade, and I. King Jordan1,. “Genetic ancestry and ethnic identity in Ecuador.” Human Genetics and Genomics Advances 2.4 (2021). https://www.cell.com/hgg-advances/pdf/S2666-2477(21)00031-2.pdf

 

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