FANESCA: In search of the best

BY LANCE BRASHEAR



Though they surveyed about 5,000 establishments in Quito looking for the best fanesca – Ecuador's traditional Easter dish – researchers from the University of the Americas (UDLA) along with the Quito Tourism office, ultimately admit that the greatest fanesca is generally not for sale. It is grandma's recipe.



Nonetheless, over the past month Carlos Gallardo, National Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Factulty at UDLA and head of the Ecuadorian Chef's Association, led a full-scale effort to try to make the subjective tastes of the people of Quito a bit more objective.



Together with the tourism arm of the city, Gallardo and his team identified approximately 500 restaurants that offer fanesca throughout Quito. Their goal: identify the 12 best recipes available to the public, offered by establishments that also satisfy the needs of tourists and diners.



The winners were presented recently at the Carmen Bajo Monestary in Quito offering tastings as part of a kick-off to an Easter exhibition at the convent, which lasts through the end of the month and segues to a broader celebration throughout the city as Holy Week nears.



Gastronomic Tourism



"If we ask everyone what is the best (fanesca) recipe we will always say our grandmother's, our mother's, our family's, and this is the best recipe we have," says Gallardo. "Now, how a tourist arrives at our grandmother's house is a little difficult." And for Gallardo this is exactly the point – to serve the tourist.



Andres Granja, part of the UDLA evaluation team, says, "The 12 restaurants were selected because our objective is gastronomic tourism…we selected the restaurants that can satisfy this necessity."

Gallardo adds, "Within the conditions that we evaluated, we looked a lot at the capacity of each to receive tourists, the quality of their service, and the sanitary considerations in each of the establishments." He says all of this was considered alongside the respect for the products, respect for the tradition, and respect for the recipes.



UDLA is at the forefront of investigating and promoting Ecuadorian cuisine with the objective of bringing greater attention to Ecuador's rich culinary heritage. For the past five years, with the support of UDLA, Gallardo has led a program called "Rescuing the Traditional Flavors of Ecuador," and traveled to every province in the country investigating, documenting, and promoting the culinary patrimony of Ecuador with the objective of establishing Ecuador on the global gastronomic scene.



"There is a grand evolution from a sustainable, culinary point of view that we have to have in one way or another," explains Gallardo. Using Mexican and Peruvian cuisine as examples, he says Ecuador is ready to join them in recognition at an international level. "We are completely prepared, with a solid investigation."



Fanesca



In Ecuador, food is often inextricably tied to cultural and religious celebrations and one of the best examples is fanesca, which combines traditional Andean ingredients – legumes and grains - with products introduced at the time of the Spanish Conquest, principally dairy products. And the implied symbolism of the dish offers testament to it's Spanish-Catholic roots.



Marcelo Bueno, owner of Mi Cocina Restaurant, one of the restaurants identified as offering the best fanesca explains the significance of the dish: "Fanesca is traditionally consumed from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. The base of the fanesca are the 12 grains that represent the 12 apostles."



(This is also why UDLA and Quito Tourism selected 12 restaurants.)



Undoubtedly there are slight variations in each of the 500 recipes that can be found throughout the city during Holy Week. Some restaurants insist on using 12 grains, while others use as few as nine and simply claim their fanesca contains 12 "ingredients." And the word grain is used loosely, as it often includes legumes, tubers, and even melons (zapallo, a local pumpkin-like gourd is commonly included).



Hotel Quito Chef, Manuel Ponce, identified his twelve grains: Fava beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, bolon beans ("frijol bolon"), peas, peanuts, melloco (a local tuber), lentil beans, chocho beans, hominy, and red beans.



Fanesca includes other ingredients with religous symbolism. Cod, said to represent Christ, is an essential ingredient in traditional recipes. Cod is often imported, but some restaurants also substitute with a national fish.



And each fanesca has up to half a dozen garnishes, some of which include hard-boiled eggs, fried bananas, and mini-empanadas. They are said to represent the community of non-believers, which gives testament to the evangelization of the indigenous by the Catholic Church.



With fanesca as one of the most celebrated dishes in all of Ecuador it is an obvious choice for promotion. Luz Elena Coloma, General Manager of Quito Tourism, says this year's event is the first pass to create a gastronomic route in the city. She promises additional efforts throughout the year to showcase Quito and Ecuador's food traditions.



"It is our obligation as a city, as the office of tourism of the city, to place a value, to recognize, and to say to the world and the international tourist, and to say to ourselves, that we have a gastronomy of great quality and it is part of our attraction."



And though she sampled some of the twelve greatest fanescas in Quito she makes the same admission as so many others: "I am not a great maker of fanesca. I still have my mother thanks to God and I have my mother-in-law who makes the best fanescas in the world."



Mi Cocina Fanesca Recipe by Mi Cocina (Serving: 18 persons)



Ingredients

1lb beans

1lb fava beans,

1lb peans

1lb chochos

1lb corn

¼ medium-size cabbage

¾ bundle white onion medium-size zapallo

100 grams arrocillo rice

Parsley,

Oregano

¼ lb butter

Oil

10 cloves garlic, chopped

Pepper, crushed (a pinch)

1 liter milk

Optional:

1lb garbanzo beans

1lb lentil beans

1lb mellocos



Preparation

Prepare mixture ("refrito") of butter, onion, oil. Stir until semi-boiled. Stir in annatto (achiote), add chopped garlic and crushed pepper, oregano, and stir for five minutes. Next, add the cabbage, previously cooked and crushed, and stir until dissolved. Add the cod water.



Prepration of Grains:

Separately, peel, sift, and cook beans, peas, chochos, and corn.

Cook the arrocillo in a small quantity of water, add grains mentioned above along with milk, peanuts dissolved in milk, and zapallo (previously cooked and liquified in its own juices).

Finally, add salte, cream, and milk as desired.



Garnish

Accompany fanesca with the following garnishes: 3 pealed maqueños cut into small round disks, empanadas with cheese, "bolitas de harina" (fried flour balls), 2 boiled eggs cut into pieces, chopped cod as desired, 1 aji chili pepper chopped and without seeds, and a sprig of parsley for each plate.

The Churches & Convents of Quito

The central historical district of Quito will be the scene of the city's largest, public religious celebration during the upcoming Holy week (April 1-8th). The events, whether musical, gastronomical, or artistic, will occur in a city that, throughout its history, has been a fundamentally religious one.



Visitors cannot walk through El Centro without passing a church, convent, or chapel every couple of blocks. The structures define both Quito's intangible and it's physical, architectural heritage, offering an iconography that is part of the tourism landscape of Quito.


In the coming weeks, get to know the city's religious structures, the reason for which Quito was named a UNESCO world heritage site.



The Cathedral Church is arguably Quito's oldest. Its grandeur is found in its size as it borders the entire length of the south side of the Plaza Grande. The names of the original 204 Spanish conquerers are posted on the outer wall. Inside is the masuleum of Antonio Jose de Sucre, and burial sites for some of Ecuador's important historical figures.



Adjacent is the Sagrario Church, built on top of a ravine that cut the city in two, it boasts magnificent altars and baroque elements. Across the plaza the Conception Church and Convent was Quito's first feminine monastery and is one of five cloistered convents in the historical center.



Quito's most impressive public space, the San Francisco Plaza is home to the San Francisco Church and Convent is home of the first order to arrive in Quito, the Francisans. The adjoining Cantuña Chapel offers one of Quito's most famous legends (the legend of Cantuña) and sandwiched in between is the beautiful Buenaventura Chapel.



The Compañia Church is perhaps Quito's most ornate. Painted in gold leaf it offers an unforgettable encounter and is attached to the Metropolitan Cultural Centers, a structure with another rich history.

Quito's other principal plaza takes the name of the religious order whose presence dominates the square: Santo Domingo Church & Convent. It is home to the Fray Bedon Museum and multiple chapels including the Chapel of the Rosario and Chapel of the Virgin Escalera.



Other religious orders that have influenced the archititeture of the city are the mercedarios, founders of the Merced Church and Convent, and the Augustinians who have one of the greatest attractions of baroque painting in the collection of works by Miguel de Santiago found in the San Agustin Convent and Church.



The Carmelite Nuns in Quito have two homes: El Carmen Alto is the home of the order originally founded in Quito while El Carmen Bajo is the home of the sisters who relocated following an earthquake in Latacunga 300 years ago.



El Carmen Bajo is known for its rich Nativity display and El Carmen Alto is site of the former home of one of Ecuador's saints, Mariana de Jesus. Across from Carmen Alto is the city museum and site of the former San Juan de Dios hospital and chapel. Two blocks west is the Santa Clara Convent, a four hundred year old order in Quito.



The Santa Catalina Convent and Monastery is another cloistered convent. Around the outskirts of the central core of Quito are the El Tejar, San Roque, Santa Barbara, and San Marcos Churches.

The San Diego Church and Convent is located in the southwest corner of El Centro, next to the magnificent San Diego Cemetary. At the opposite end, the far northeast section of the historical district, the San Blas Church, located in one of the oldest parishes of the city, was originally a church for the indigenous populations of Quito.



Finally, the Gothic structure known as the Basillica dominates the Quito skyline offering magificent views and a quirky national touch: Galapagos animal gargoyles.



CHURCHES OF HISTORICAL QUITO:

1. Cathedral Church

2. El Sagrario Church

3. La Concepcion Church & Monastery

4. San Francisco Church & Convent

5. Buenaventura & Cantuña Chapels

6. La Compañía Church

7. Santo Domingo Church & Convent

8. Chapel of the Rosario & Chapel of the Virgin Escalera

9. La Merced Church & Convent

10. San Agustin Church & Convent

11. El Carmen Bajo Church & Convent

12. Santa Barbara Church

13. San Roque Church

14. Chapel of the Old San Juan de Dios Hospital (city museum)

15. El Carmen Alto Church & Convent

16. Santa Clara Church & Convent

17. Santa Catalina Church & Monastery

18. San Marcos Church

19. San Diego Church & Convent

20. El Tejar Church & Convent

21. San Juan Church & Monastery

22. Basilica Church

23. San Blas Plaza

Holy Week in Quito

For the Roman Catholic Community in Quito Holy Week is undoubtedly the most important event commemorating Christian faith and it competes with the largest public gatherings during the year, possibly outdoing the Independence and "Fiestas de Quito" celebrations.



For visitors Semana Santa is a great opportunity to witness the astonishing zeal Quiteños show towards religion, while admiring lithurgical rituals and traditions, which shed light on the cultural complexities of a mixed heritage.



During Holy Week, visitors can also taste the delectable blend of indigenous and Spanish cuisines in the popular fanesca dish, a unique soup that combines flavors from both the Andes and the coast - an elaborate and hearty treat that will make this week in Quito truly unforgettable.



Holy Week begins April 1, with Palm Sunday, and culminates in the events of Easter Sunday, one week later. Here is how to observe and participate:



PALM SUNDAY

JESUS CHRIST IN JERUSALEM

Date: April 1

Times: 8:30 AM and 7:30 PM

Place: Squares and churchs of the Historic Center



Palm Sunday, a religious date commemorating the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he was received with palms and olive branches, symbols of peace. The historic center becomes the stage of several important religious ceremonies, complemented by cultural events such as the Church Bell Concert.



LITHURGICAL CALENDAR:



8:00 a.m. El Sagrario Church: Blessing of palms and procession to the Cathedral.

8:45 a.m. Cathedral Cburch: Pontifical Mass presided by the Archbishop of Quito.

9:00 a.m. Basilica Church: Procession to Plaza San Francisco beginning at the Basilica. Route: Basilica, Venezuela, Manabí, García Moreno, Sucre, Benalcázar, Plaza San Francisco.

11:00 a.m. Plaza San Francisco: Open-air Mass, Singing of Eucharist and Blessing of Palms.

6:00 p.m. Plaza del Teatro: The procession begins here and moves toward San Francisco Plaza, where the Church Bell Concert takes place; special performance by the Jacchigua Folk Ballet.

7:30 p.m. Plaza San Francisco: Church Bell Concert. All church bells throughout the Historic Center are tolled.



HOLY WEDNESDAY THE DRAGGING OF THE CAPE

Date: April 4

Time: 12:00

Place: The Cathedral of Quito 6



On April 4, at noon, the Municipal Cathedral is stage to the "Arrastre de Caudas," or Dragging of the Cape procession, a unique tradition that only takes place in three cities worldwide: Quito, Lima and Seville. The Dragging of the Cape is a solemn ceremony that celebrates every Holy Wednesday, symbolizing the mournful hours for the death of Jesus Christ. The cape travels the Cathedral so that the virtues of Jesus Christ pass down to the faithful. For those who wish to participate, it is recommended that you reach the Cathedral approximately 2 hours before the event begins, since the Dragging of the Capes is one of the most popular ceremonies of Holy Week.



HOLY THURSDAY

April 5, 2012

HISTORIC CENTRE ALTARS IN ALL THEIR SPLENDOR

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.



On Holy Thursday the Pontifical Chrismal Mass of Oils takes place in The Municipal Cathedral at 8:30 a.m., presided by the Archbishop of Quito. At 5:30 p.m. Pontifical Mass for the Last Supper, washing of the feet and procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Monument, takes place in The Cathedral.

The churches decorate their altars with silver and cloths and, among other things, a tabernacle is positioned with a chalice on top in remembrance of Jesus who has been captured.

After these ceremonies, at 6:00 p.m., a tour of the seven monuments of the Historic Center begins. And more than 10 churches open their doors to exhibit their most sublime altars on the night of Holy Thursday (until 10:00 p.m.).



GOOD FRIDAY

JESUS ALMIGHTY PROCESSION

April 6, 2012

Time: 7:00 -18:30

Place: San Francisco and Historic Centre streets



Good Friday is received with the Jesus Almighty procession, a religious tradition that was reinstated in the country in 1960. It is currently one of the most spectacular expressions of religious faith in the city. It gathers thousands of people throughout the historic center. In the late afternoon, at 6:00 p.m., the ceremony of the Seven Words takes place in the Convent of Santo Domingo, which ends with the Lord of Silence Procession that begins in Santo Domingo Square.

7:00-10:00 a.m.: Confessions at San Francisco Convent

8:00 a.m.: Via Crucis Prayer at San Francisco Church

11:45 a.m.: Reading of Jesus Christ’s Sentence, at the Atrium of San Francisco.



Almighty Jesus Procession (Historic Center)

Begins: Plaza San Francisco

Time: Noon



Route: Plaza San Francisco, Calles Bolívar, Venezuela north to Manabí, Vargas, José Riofrío, Venezuela, Manabí, García Moreno, Sucre and Plaza San Francisco.



Almighty Jesus Procession (South Quito)

Begins: "Virgen del Quinche" Church at Barrio La Unión

Time: Noon



Route: "Virgen del Quinche" Church of Barrio La Unión (calles Natalia Vaca and Unión), Guachapala, Zaruma, Puruha, Mariscal Sucre, Subte. Michelena, Atahualpa Neighborhood Roundabout, Av. Teniente Hugo Ortiz, Cacha, Puruha, Av. Jacinto Collahuazo, Rodrigo de Chavez, Mariscal Sucre, Puruha, Cuachapala, Calle Natalia Vaca, back to "Virgen del Quinche" Church.

5:00 p.m.: Liturgy at San Francisco Church

5:30 p.m.: Liturgic Ceremony for the Passion of Christ. Universal Prayer. Adoration of the Holy Cross and Communion at the Municipal Cathedral.

6:00 p.m.: Santo Domingo Church: Sermon of the Seven Last Words. "Beginning of the Procession of Silence." Route: Santo Domingo Church, Rocafuerte, Leopoldo Salvador, Calle de los Milagros, Montufar, Sucre, Venezuela, Rocafuerte, Santo Domingo Church.



HOLY SATURDAY PASCHAL VIGIL

April 7, 2012

Times: 3 PM to 7 PM

Place: San Francisco



The Temple of San Francisco in Quito carries out a ceremony for the Solitude of Mary, Mother of Jesus - a lithurgy that lasts 3 hours and consists of prayers and songs dedicated to the Virgin who has lost her child. Once this ceremony ends, the Paschal Vigil begins, with blessing of fire, paschal candles and the blessing of the Holy Water. This is the night before Resurrection, it is the passage of Jesus from Death to Eternal Life.



HOLY SUNDAY RESURRECION

April 8, 2012



6:00 p.m.: Solemn Pontifical Mass of the Lord's Resurrection, presided by the Archbishop of Quito at the Municipal Cathedral. Also known as the Easter of Flowers, in reference to spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when religious ceremonies go back to their usual schedules.