Food Phobias Part 1 of 2

PART ONE OF TWO

Some of you may already know about my (many) food phobias!  For those who don't, I'll point out just a few of them.  The point of these next couple of blog entries is to explain how I must face those phobias on a daily basis here in Ecuador.

Avoiding my food phobias was much easier back in the US.  Menus were in my native tongue; therefore, I could easily navigate my way around an unfamiliar restaurant.  I could ask the server questions that were geared toward my phobias.  I had a certain comfort level that what I was eating wasn't going to set off triggers.

OK, so what are my phobias?  Those cute "my food can't touch" or "I have to eat everything in a clockwise direction" pale in comparison!   These are my top four:

1)  No bones.  My food cannot contain bones - plain and simple.  Bones remind me that it was once a living, breathing animal.

2)  Nothing in its "natural state."  Similar to bones.  My food cannot look like it did when alive.  Fish and seafood fall into this category.  The thought of a whole fish on my plate makes me want to throw up!

3)  No skin.  "Peel and eat" shrimp, lobster, chicken - you name it.  No skin, shells, etc. will be on my plate.

4)  Cleanliness.  You already know I'm OCD about cleaning, and I expect the same with my food sources.

With phobias 1 through 3, you would think I would be a vegetarian!  Truth be told, we don't eat a lot of meat.   .....which is a good thing considering what we see in Ecuador!

I'll go backwards, and start with "CLEANLINESS" as that is what most newly arrived ex-pats notice right away.  I said "notice" but what I really meant was: "smacks you right in the face!"

It's smart to keep a certain level of awareness when dealing with food - especially when living in a foreign country.  There are parasites and bacteria that our American-raised bodies are unfamiliar with.  Most of those unfamiliar bugs are harmless, and others can cause serious illnesses.

As you may know, fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful and cheap here in Ecuador.  You can buy them everywhere - from the super grocery stores, to open air markets, to vendors on the street corners.  What you don't know is:  Where were those berries grown?  What was the fertilizer?  How were they stored prior to this retailer?  Sure, these were legitimate questions everyone everywhere should be asking, but we just took for granted back home. 

Here, we've seen crates of produce being hauled in the back of pick up trucks......right under a cow and surrounded by a few goats.  Those animals have probably relieved themselves on the long trip into town, and the floor of the pick up bed is now a cesspool of nastiness.  ...and my strawberries are swimming in it!

Nearly all ex-pats wash all produce prior to eating.  I don't mean "wash with water," as we did back in the States.  Here, we soak all produce with a cleaning product prior to eating. Here is the product we use.  

A cap full with 2 liters of cold water.  Let soak for at least 5 minutes, then rinse with water.  It's become our routine, and we don't even think twice about it.  We did notice that after soaking, the produce doesn't seem to stay fresh for much longer; therefore, we've learned to soak just prior to using the food.  Things like bananas (where the peel/covering isn't consumed) do not get washed.

Our "unwashed" produce stays in the plastic bags. The washed produce goes into our counter top bowls or baskets.  That's how we keep track of the process.

"Unwashed" potatoes still in the plastic bag.

We know we are covered at home, but what about at a restaurant?  Was that lettuce washed?  Were those strawberries (with all of those divots!) properly cleaned?  To be honest, it's a crap shoot.  At the more expensive restaurants - and/or those frequented by other ex-pats - we tend to let our guard down and eat the produce.  So far, we've been lucky, but I'm sure we're on borrowed time!

As a general rule, we avoid the "street food" vendors here.  As our guts get more used to the bacteria and bugs here, we'll probably start to partake (it smells really good!)

The eggs here are not sold (nor stored) refrigerated.  They are absolutely delicious, and we eat a lot of them!  It took us a while to get comfortable with the idea of not refrigerating our eggs - that's what we've been taught to do.

Unrefrigerated eggs.

Many ex-pats eventually get "a parasite" from eating a contaminated food item.  Many Ecuadorians do as well.  Think "Montezuma's Revenge" (so we've heard!)  The treatment is usually as bad as the symptoms.  These are the most common pills taken over a 2-day period.  We went ahead and bought them for our medicine cabinet because we heard that by the time you need them, you are certainly in no condition to go out and buy them!

SIDE NOTE:  Yes, we drink the tap water here - BUT ONLY IN CUENCA!  Everyone recommends bottled water outside of Cuenca's reach.  Cuenca's water treatment facilities have won several international awards, and the water tastes really good, to be honest!

Even with my phobia about cleanliness, I can easily handle the washing of the produce.  Dealing with the meat here in Ecuador is another thing altogether!  Back home, we bought our meat in nicely wrapped, sanitized packaging from refrigerated cases in the supermarket.  That's not always the case here in Ecuador!   Stay tuned for Part 2:  Meats.