Sound Bites & Snap Shots

Today Walker shared a little bit of our Ecuador experience with his Spanish class.  The assignment was to present a cuisine from a Spanish speaking country and explain how to prepare the dish using informal affirmative commands. 

Fanesca is a dish typically prepared during Holy Week in Ecuador.  We had the good fortune of trying it when we were there last year. (That’s what is in the bowl pictured above.) Its ingredients are symbolic of elements of the Catholic faith.  It contains fish representing Jesus and twelve beans and grains for the disciples.  Fanesca is much like chili or salsa in that every family has its own recipe.  The actual beans and grains might vary a bit but the overall structure is the same.

This soup is rather time consuming to prepare since each of the grains and beans is prepared in advance and then they are all combined in the final steps. To help Walker, I did a lot of mise en place while he was at school and then he took pictures of each step for his presentation too.

The crock pot was completely full when it left our house and completely empty when it came home.  Apparently, it was a very popular dish.

The soup was garnished with hardboiled egg, avocado, fried plantain and cilantro. 

I texted his teacher after for these photos and got a lovely message back from her:

“Walker did an outstanding presentation.  I was super impressed with the quality and flavor of the Fanesca, muy deliciosa.  Muchas gracias por su apoyo y su generosidad en compartir la comida con la clase de Español.”

Our recipe for fanesca comes from T’s Tasty Bits and yields  12+ servings.

Ingredients for the fanesca

• 1 lb. salted cod, soaked for 24 hours+ to remove salt, drained, cut into smaller pieces
• The juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup peanuts, toasted and blended in 2 cups of milk
• 1 cup dry rice cooked in 3 cups of water (the rice needs to be soggy and tender)
• 2 cups pumpkin (calabaza/zapallo), cooked and cubed (reserve the water)
• 2 cups yellow squash, cooked and cubed (reserve the water)
• 1 can (14-16oz. or 2 cups) lima beans with liquid
• 1 cup (8 oz.) lupini beans (chochos), drained and peeled, brine discarded
• 1 cup dry lentils cooked in 2 cups water and seasoned with salt (reserve the water)
• 1 can (14-16oz. or 2 cups) red kidney beans or pinto beans with liquid
• 1 can (14-16oz. or 2 cups) cannellini beans with liquid
• 1 can (14-16oz. or 2 cups) garbanzo beans with liquid
• 1 can (14-16oz or 2 cups) hominy, drained
• 1 can (14-16oz. or 2 cups) sweet corn, drained
• Salt, ground pepper and ground cumin to taste
• Ground achiote (annato powder)
• For the garnishes
• Slices of hard-boiled eggs
• Chopped cilantro
• Masitas (deep fried dough)
• Fried sweet plantains
• Avocado slices

Directions

1. Cook the cod fish in abundant water plus the juice of 1 lemon. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the fish from the water, and discard the water.
2. In a large Dutch oven or stew pot, make a refrito by heating some oil, and adding the onion, garlic, cilantro, achiote powder, and seasoning with salt, pepper and cumin. Sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the toasted peanut/milk puree to the refrito, and sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Add the soggy, tender rice to the refrito mixture. Stir and mash the rice with the ladle to thicken the soup. Sauté for 5 additional minutes.
5. Add the cooked pumpkin, yellow squash, plus 1 cup of each of the liquids. Mash the squashes with the ladle to thicken the soup.
6. Add all the beans with the liquid, plus the corn and hominy, drained.
7. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every so often so the soup doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
8. The Fanesca soup is thick and hearty, but if you notice it is drying too fast, or prefer a lighter soup, add more milk, about 1-2 cups, depending on your preference.
9. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat some oil and lightly sauté the cod fish pieces on all sides.
10. Taste the fanesca for seasoning, and adjust the flavor by adding more salt, pepper and cumin if necessary.
11. To serve: in a bowl, place a few pieces (depending on your preference) of the sautéed cod. Ladle some fanesca over it.
12. Garnish the soup with additional chopped cilantro, slices of hard-boiled eggs, or slices of avocado. Serve with fried sweet plantains and masitas (deep fried empanadas, which we omitted this time).

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Buen Provecho