Bread of Life

 One of our favorite pastimes in Ecuador (Guayaquil, too) is to buy bread. I know, it seems silly, but finding the right panadería is a treasure hunt. The best bread we've found is from Ambato. If you find an Ambateño bakery, you pay about $.13 per roll. They have an open crumb and are light and fluffy, kind of the opposite of a Costco roll. Both are delicious, just different.

There is no reason why I can't make these regularly as I can find bread flour at my local grocery store. But the locals put cheese in their rolls. I haven't figured out how to do that.

Guaguas, in the native Quechua language, mean babies. Guaguas de pan, then, are little baked breads shaped and decorated like dolls. The practice of baking these little human-shaped breads predates the arrival of the Spanish in Ecuador, and has now been incorporated into Día de los Difuntos traditions.

They are filled with jam or other fruit jellies.

Ecuador, similar to Mexico with its history of Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples whose beliefs and customs intertwined with those of Spanish colonizers, has an analogous celebration on November 2nd, called Día de los Difuntos, or Day of the Deceased. On November 2, families gather in cemeteries to honor and remember their loved ones who have passed on.

Ecuadorians like to drink Colada Morada during this celebration. Mora is blackberry so you can expect the drink is delicious.

I love to buy curious little rolls that look unique. You never know what's inside.