Only a few restaurants in Quito still serve cuy (roasted guinea pig) anymore, and it has become an exotic food. Although still common in remote village cuisines, even in urban Ecuador the sides would include potatoes, corn and grains in a variety of forms.
Giant shrimp stuffed chicken breast, Opera Restaurant, Hotel Dann Carlton
Giant shrimp do not belong in the central Andes of Ecuador, but they do on the long Pacific coast. Modern transportation provides the means today to easily market foods within geographic regions.
pan fried corn nuts & toasted beans are a common garnish/snack
Quinoa, potatoes and corn are but three of a copious number of food stuffs indigenous to the Central Andes. Spanish conquest in the 16th century spread both these and many other agricultural products worldwide and introduced pigs and beef to South America. Today highways allow Ecuador’s Amazon River and Pacific Ocean fish and seafood to be served fresh in Quito at 9,000 feet elevation.
Los Milagros Restaurant, Centro Historico Quito
In a recent trip to Quito I explored seven restaurants that firmly base their menus on traditional cuisine yet take a liberal hand their reinterpretation for the 21st century plate.
La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Quito, Ecuador
Since the start of history gold has been connected to the divine and the boundaries of people, state and heaven have intertwined in myriad and mysterious patterns. In post conquest 16th century Quito (Ecuador), An A-list of priests, monks and nuns from four of the Church’s most influential religious orders provided the patronage for a celebrated era of artistic expression.
La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Quito, Ecuador
Sumptuous interior decorations, intricate carvings and golden altars express prominent Moorish geometrical figures, Italian Renaissance style and European baroque architecture. In the 1970s UNESCO dubbed it “Quito Baroque” in their 1978 designation of Quito as a World Heritage Site.
Just click the link to see many more photos and read the article…
The iconic soup of Ecuador: Locro de PapaOne of 200 varieties potatoes in Ecuador
At least 4,000 varieties of potatoes grow in the Andean Highlands that encompass territory stretching from northern Argentina through Ecuador. An important food staple for all pre-Columbian Andean cultures, the Incas created chunu – dehydrated potatoes that could be stored for up to a decade.
Read how a vegetable becomes a national icon and follow a simple recipe for an Ecuador national dish:
I travel for a living and am often in and out of hotels. USA hotels in particular offer…let’s be kind…sub par free “continental breakfasts.” Often I’ll grab a yogurt, hard boiled egg & fruit.
Yesterday, looking in a storage container where I keep paper plates/plastic cups etc for picnics, I came across a tightly sealed bag. At some point in the past several years I obviously grabbed a muffin, toast, jam & a pastry “on the go” and totally forgot… and I mean several years ago because I had not opened this bin for that long.
“Petrified” American hotel breakfast food. (2 – 3 years old – blemish free..click pic to expand.)
Lo and behold…on a black plastic plate were perfect stone hard “petrified” American hotel fast food with not a blemish upon them. It’s American genius…and the preservatives will keep me young forever…
You can read all my articles and subscribe to my Examiner columns at:
The “super” Krewe of Endymion lived up to its hype. As one of New Orleans largest krewes, founded in 1967, Endymion created new traditions with mega floats using the latest technology of the day and featuring national celebrities from stage, screen and recording studio.
Endymion float Mardi Gras 2015 New OrleansEndymion krewe member, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
The 30 plus mega float parade, interspersed with as many marching bands and other groups, is one of the season’s most anticipated. Making its way from City Park in Mid-City down Canal Street and through Uptown to the Mercedes Super Dome for Endymion’s Extravaganza, the estimated crowd was put at 35,000+ watching and participating in the three hour parade.
Endymion float Mardi Gras 2015 New OrleansA house on Orleans Ave. getting ready for the Endymion parade Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
The Krewe of Endymion marches on Samedi Gras (Fat Saturday – 2016 date February 6) second only in importance to the season’s ultimate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). But parades are only part of the spectacle that make the season (January 6 through Fat Tuesday – in 2016 February 9) New Orleans largest block party.
Campers and reviliers setting up for the Endymion parade Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans on the neutral ground of Orleans Ave.A U-Haul truck becomes a movable feast for an Endymion parade party, Mardi Gras 2015 New Orleans
A full two days ahead intrepid groups of revelers staked out their territory on the wide neutral ground of Orleans Avenue in Mid-City near iconic City Park. One of the city’s wide boulevards, the grass and often tree shaded middle-of-the-road “neutral ground” becomes a focal point for a round-the-clock block party. Camping out and cooking is allowed, porta potties are provided and as Saturday morning arrives every square inch of the long avenue’s neutral ground is a festival in itself. Children toss footballs, parents throw frisbees, barbecues send up aromatic aromas and long tables groan under the weight of such traditional fare as Louisiana crawfish boil and copious amounts of beer. The street and house parties spread throughout the neighborhoods that Endymion snakes through and continue for hours after it passes.
Louisiana crawfish boil
But once the parade rolls the thousands that line the long route have eyes only on the floats and catching the many “throws” from iconic strings of beads to frisbees and creations with flashing lights.
Krewe of Endymion float, Mardi Gras 2015, New Orleans
See a full list of Mardi Gras 2016 krewe and parade information and get ready for Fat Tuesday!
You can read additional articles by Chef Marc d’Entremont at…
The opening parade January 31 for the 2015 New Orleans Mardi Gras season by the Krewe du Vieux maintained the traditional small scale donkey or man-power drawn floats but was LARGER THAN LIFE in political satire mixed with “adult themes.”
New Orleans: Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015
The Krewe du Vieux is the ONLY major parade that actually can go through the French Quarter.
traditional Donkey drawn floats, Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015Krewe du Vieux, Mardi Gras 2015
As you’ll see over the next 2 weeks, the parades are “monumental.” BTW: some of pics in costume are just people viewing the parade, not participants – but in New Orleans, everyone’s a “participants”
Mardi Gras World is a living museum for an international festival as celebrated as it’s misunderstood. Daily public tours showcase a wide range of Mardi Gras themes from the ribald to down home family friendly. And while a guest is snapping photos and listening to the guide, Kern Studio artists are busy in the real work of creating Mardi Gras 2015.
painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras decoration on a French Quarter house mid-January 2015
Fat Tuesday falls on February 17th this year (2015) but in New Orleans, Mardi Gras season begins on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, January 6, which also happens to be the birthday of the city’s patron saint, Joan of Arc. History, legend and real life often create everyday activities in culturally diverse New Orleans. At Mardi Gras World that legacy keeps 50 artists busy year round.
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleansa prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras expresses the uniqueness of a region that’s been home and country to Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, the Americas and displaced populations (Cajuns, slaves). There are Mardi Gras parades from Mobile, Alabama to Galveston, Texas and in every parish in southern Louisiana. But New Orleans is the cultural center of Mardi Gras in North America.
a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras is the gumbo of festivals, a melange of cultural and social influences. It has traditions set by krewes – dozens of them – but it’s the individual themes chosen each year by the krewes that make Mardi Gras parades unpredictable fun. Yet the evolution of Mardi Gras as we know it today is an 1870s invention of New Orleans businessmen to honor the visit of a Russian prince on Fat Tuesday. They created the Krewe of Rex and the good times have been rolling since.
the immense Smokey Mary train float, Krewe of Orpheus, Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras World is a family owned juggernaut of monumental float designs. Founded in the 1930s by New Orleans artist Blaine Kern (Kern Studios ) what started as painting random props for parade floats quickly blossomed into contracts with over a dozen of Mardi Gras most influential and historic krewes including Rex. Beyond parades, Kern Studios is the leader in creating “themed environments” for conventions, resorts and the media.
prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
The krewes own the massive float infrastructures – the actual moving machines – but the decorations, the props, are usually rented from Kern Studios since themes change annually. Many props today start with a base of styrofoam.
carving the styrofoam base of a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Often props are repurposed several times and Kern Studio artists make magic with such standard mediums as paper mache to create features.
adding paper mache to a prop before painting at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
The larger than life demensions of most props dictate spray painting as an efficient method, although meticulous brush painting may still be necessary with elaborate detail.
spray painting a prop at Mardi Gras World
brush painting a prop at Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Appropriate to the city’s nickname, the Big Easy, after the tour guests are free to wander the massive warehouse admiring, photographing and watching the artists at work. One would never guess that the parades begin in a couple short weeks. By the end of January, Mardi Gras season will be in full swing with over two weeks of parades, many showcasing the grandeur and fun of Kern Studio’s Mardi Gras World artistry.
Mardi Gras World, New Orleans
Mardi Gras World, located on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans, is open for tours seven days a week. Parking is available but a free shuttle runs from several hotels and tourist locations in the city.
United States Marine Corps Band New Orleans at St. Louis Cathedral
Marine Corps Band New Orleans
Both the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France(c. 1793 & 1850) and the Marines are intimately tied to that seminal day in New Orleans history, January 8, 1815. It was an apt setting 200 years to the day for the United States Marine Corps Band to perform a concert in honor of the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans.
Fireworks lit the night sky following the concert, illuminating Jackson Square and trying to shed some light on the the little understood War of 1812.
Walk down any Charleston street and you’ll be acknowledged. Stop and ask a question and be prepared for a lengthy and enthusiastic conversation. As one gentleman said, “Charleston’s always been unique.”
Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, VASanta’s Workshop in gingerbread
Richmond’s elegant Jefferson Hotel used to stock live alligators in the fountain of the Palm Court lobby. How does Christmas top that? Old Pompey, immortalized by a taxidermist, was the last and after his passing in 1948 the fountain was removed.
Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, VA
Richmond residents as well as visitors are drawn to both the lobby and hotel restaurants akin to New York’s Time Square – it’s the city’s Christmas focal point. Read why at…
Seville Square and Pensacola’s National Historic District remain one of America’s most enduring Florida gulf shore neighborhoods and a focal point for Christmas festivities.
Pensacola National Historic District, FL
Read why Historic Pensacola has the ambiance of a village within the 21st century city and Christmas reflects its southern charm.
Kavala, Greecethe Imaret (early 19th century) now boutique hotel.
The twisting streets of Kavala’s old city reveals its recent past. The architecture is a mosaic of historical patterns befitting a port city serving empires. Known as Neapolis for its first thousand years, Kavala has born witness to dreamers and emperors since the 7th century B.C. It’s easy to marvel at the 16th century engineering beauty of the Kamares aquaduct from the fortress.
The Kamares aquaduct (15th century)
Adding to the charm of the city are important and entertaining sites in the nearby countryside – the impressive remains of Philippi, Lydia, the Krinides Therapeutic Clay Baths and vineyards on the mountain where Dionysus resided in the Pangaion Hills.
Ktima Biblia Chora vineyard on the slopes of Mt. Pangaion.
To get there, stay at, go to and dine please read…
Harrisburg the capital of Pennsylvania and Rehoboth Beach in far southern Delaware may be 165 miles apart, but they share similar European colonial origins, the Susquehanna/Chesapeake Bay river basin and legendary farmlands.
Wearable art at the Art League of RehobothLarry Ringgold, driftwood horse sculpture, Peninsula Gallery
From plein air painters feasting on the raw natural beauty of beaches and marshland to cutting edge jewelry design, southern Delaware has nurtured the arts for the past century. As the motto of the Art League of Rehoboth says, Art Grows Here.™
Abraxas Hudson, artist , owner Abraxas Studio of Art, Lewes, DE.
Before there was state government, before there was coal, iron, steel and chocolate, farm and tavern table were always next-door. The ingredients to make a creamy mushroom risotto, charcuterie, or a Polish vegetarian chili are still from the earth surrounding the Harrisburg/Hershey region.
Bar at Devon Seafood Grill
A spotlight on eight venues offering culinary creativity…
Travel with Pen and Palate 
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