It came with chochos, chulpi/tostada, chifle, ensalada, fritada, maduro y salsas al gusto. In English, that's beans, toasted corn, plantain chips, salad, fried pork chunks, a whole plantain and sauces of my choosing.
A little boy that I interviewed told me that maduro (plaintain) are his favorite part of the meal, so I gave him my maduro as a thanks for his help. He showed me how to customize my cevichochos even further by directing me to a table bulging under the weight of many, many delicious sauces and toppings. You might remember from our video call that I told your class that there are sauces everywhere here in Ecuador. There were at least six available at this business!
At first, I felt a little apprehensive. There were so many different flavors and textures that I thought I might get overwhelmed. Plus, I was worried I'd add sauces that I'd end up disliking and thus ruin the whole experience. When I was your age, I was a pretty picky eater, and sometimes trying unfamilar foods is still challenging. That's one of the reasons I chose to try cevichochos, to push myself. I'm so glad I did. Cevichochos are now one of my favorite foods! I ended up adding ají sauce, lime and extra cilantro to my bowl. I didn't want to add too many extra flavors because I was really focused on trying to taste the individual ingredients, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to include ají. Ají (pronounced ah-hee) is a very common hot sauce here. It's not always spicy, though. The base is hot peppers, but it can also include onion, cilantro and even fruit juice.
