Sacándole el jugo

I barely dare to look at the date of my last post... How time has flown! The reason is quite simple, though. As they put it here in Ecuador: estoy sacándole el jugo, which roughly translates into "I'm squeezing the juice out of it" - say, I'm making most of my time here. My job has become very busy and interesting, leaving me little room to let my thoughts wander around; I've been on holiday to the States for the wedding of a good friend of mine; went on an inspirational study trip to El Salvador, to learn about the participation of women's organisations in the local economy; and I had my brother over for a visit, to name but a few highlights of the last months.

But I have been also quite literally squeezing out juice here. One of the absolute delights of living in a tropical country (although there are few to no palms, beaches or crystalline seas to be spotted around Quito, don't get up your horses yet) is the fruit. It comes in a dozen different varieties, flavours and colours, and you pay but a dime for it in comparison with prices in Europe or the US.

I have made it my own personal ritual to stop by the weekly fruit and veg market on my way home every Monday, and pick up my weekly ration of vitamins. As you can imagine, by now I am on joking basis with Don Luciano and Doña Blanca, who provide fresh babacos, naranjillas, pineapples, papayas, pitahayas, apples, pears, uvillas, taxos, mandarines, granadillas, tunas, guavas, strawberries, raspberries (both all year long!) and many more delicacies to caseros such as me. (Other than simply meaning 'client', casero immediately brings to the mind the good husband/(house)wife garnering all the necessary ingredients to feed the many mouths waiting at home.) And as it bestows loyal customers, I always go home with a yappa, a little extra fruit - usually some mandarins, a small papaya or some bananas - to make sure you come back next time.

Last week's catch at Don Luciano's

I usually save up most of it until the weekend, when I have time to prepare my renowned super-jugo. This magic potion generally contains five different fruits, but I have made creations of up to nine fruits. For sure, a smoothy with just two or three fruits has the advantage of letting you savour more every single fruit you've put in it, but there's just something about these super-juices. They're unrebuttably massive V-bombs, injecting a dozen or more vitamins directly into your veins, boosting your body with every glass you drink. And they are simply delicious!

Turning fruit into liquid gold...

Most people laugh at first, for it is not common to find such rich smoothies around here. That is, until they taste the liquid gold themselves, and get hooked on this papilla-titillating treat. My Ecuadorian friends still laugh at me for my craziness, but I don't care. As long as I have all this natural wealth at hand's reach, I'll keep on abusing the blender for my weekend breakfasts. Intrigued? Just come over and try it for yourself!