The best meal I ever ate

The best meal I ever ate wasn't a meal. It may not have been technically "the best" either, but it was by far the most surprising.
It was also recent, on my trip to Europe with my mother in June of this year. Mom and I were wandering around Munich's downtown core our first morning there, already tired and looking to sit after having wandered around the Viktualienmarkt in circles. Mom saw a little cafe just off the main market street, where they were making delicious-looking pastry right inside the large front window. We went in, mom probably delighted for a chance to rest with a coffee and a sweet; me with the knowledge I likely wouldn't be able to have anything, since coffee without soy milk is too harsh for my stomach. As expected, they did not have soy milk but the waitress was fluent in English and told me the pastry were vegan. Whaaat?? Yes, no milk or butter and eggs. She didn't even need me to prompt her--she knew what vegan meant, and what the ingredients were. Well hot damn, I'll take three! No, I had one, but it was amazing.
Even more amazing: while we watched the cook behind us pull the dough into rounds, my mother said, I think my mother made these when we were young. My mom's parents were German, and she remembered sitting around, watching her mom cook the dough in a pot full of fat, waiting with her siblings for the dough to cool down before they could eat it. So it may not have been the most nutritionally complete meal, but it was pretty sweet.

(Road) Avocado: Popped dinner in Ecuador

When I was in Ecuador in the spring, in many places I ate better than I could have imagined. Partly it was because of our amazing guide's dedication intranslating the specifics of my crazy vegan diet. But partly it was I think that vegan food takes advantage of simple, fresh ingredients wherever possible, and therefore eating vegan--and eating well--is possible anywhere if those doing the cooking are dedicated. Which leads to the balance of the equation: I can only assume from the many delicious meals that I ate that the people who cooked for me often genuinely wanted to make me delicious food.

While I started typing by talking about food, I'm realizing that I really am talking about the warmth and the hospitality of the people we encountered. Even though I ate in a way that was foreign to many of them--probably seeming like a privileged North American, the way vegans are perceived even to many North Americans--I had very few bad dining experiences in my three weeks in Ecaudor and the Galapagos. And I had very many excellent ones. When we came home, my mother and I raved about how friendly people were, whether regular people in the stores and on the street or those in the hospitality industry that we deal with every day. And if that hasn't convinced you to go, perhaps actually talking about food now will!
In my last post on Ecuador, I mentioned that their dining involves something unique to their county. Want to take a moment to consider what that might be? In a hundred moments you wouldn't even guess, but go right ahead. It's popcorn.
Our guide told us that in pre-Columbian times, the people who lived in what is now Ecuador didn't make bread. They cooked food in pots over fire, so they made a lot of soups--even now my guidebook says Ecuador is known for its soups. So they popped corn and had that with their soups instead of bread. It was served as an appetizer in many restaurants, and served alongside soups and ceviches. In the photo, they served me ceviche with three things on the side--popped corns, roasted corn kernels, and plantain chips. Delicious! And only in Ecuador.

(Road) Avocado Part 2: La vida es Buena en Ecuador!

I love to travel. I grew up in a military family, so I think somehow all that enforced change seeped into my cells and somehow transformed into a desire to seek out new things.
However, as we know, travelling as a vegan can be tricky. So when I went to Ecuador with my mom earlier this year, a good third of my suitcase was food: instant soup, protein bars, shake'n'go smoothie powder, dried fruit... let's just say I brought a lot of food with me. But I brought a lot back home too, since I ate very well for most of my trip.
When we registered for the group tour (we went with GAdventures, by the way, and while this won't be a full-colour ad for them, I can't recommend them enough) we were told I may have trouble during the homestay part of the tour. I won't get into all of it quite yet--waxing poetic about all the delicious things I ate will definitely take more than one post--but the homestay portion was definitely not the hungriest part of my tour.
On my second day in Ecuador (my first day involved a challenging meal at a Chinese restaurant, normally a good option for vegans, in my experience, and "not much" egg), I had an amazing vegan ceviche. I knew about ceviche from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan but my attempt at mushroom ceviche from that cookbook's recipe fell flat. I was delighted to have vegetable ceviche made with peppers, mushrooms, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes and more--served with thick ripe slices of avocado. Heaven! I had veg ceviche a few more times in Ecuador, and soon found it was usually served with a unique regional twist--but more about soon.