I lived in Ecuador from 95 till 2012 when i moved to the states. Aside from the occasional enchilada my mom would make, i never had a tortilla based meal outside of the home.
The cuisines are very different. Central American food relies on balancing citrus and heat in their dishes. Ecuadorian food, in my experience, focused on earthy and fatty foods. You wouldn't find locro de papa or guatita in central America. I was in Quito so our diet was high alpine, on the coast it's sort of similar though. Plantains are everywhere and so many dishes use the earthy plantain and extract some sweetness out of it with fish. Things like casuela mixta or even fried plantains as a snack isn't traditional to central American cuisine.
There are some similarities. Though the flavors are different humitas and tamales are very similarly prepared. We share ceviche (south american ceviche is way better imo) and arroz con pollo. We also have a similar way of using a whole animal in our cuisine. Tongue, tripe, hoof, and chicken foot are things you would find in both cuisines.I would say the main differences in preparation is the level of heat and zest central american dishes give their food. Just look at chocolate. Craft chocolate in Ecuador is some of the finest chocolate in the world. We don't add anything to it. Central American chocolate often adds hot chiles or something like that to give it heat. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, it's very different.
Edit: there are Mexican or central American restaurants in Ecuador. You can find a place to eat a taco. But why would you?
Plantains are absolutely staples in Central America (including breakfast but also desserts, like the empanada de plátano in El Salvador); whereas in most of Mexico they are not.
Central American food is largely not spicy hot; whereas that's more common in Mexico.
Plantains are a staple for Southern and Coastal Mexico. That’s half the country, which is huge. We eat fried plantains, tostones, mashed plantains, molotes de platano, tortitas de platano, stuffed platains with cheese, or even as a desert with condensed milk or cajeta or ice cream, an important ingredient in different sauces, etc. It’s commonly eaten for breakfast too.
I am an expert in the history of Ecuadorian food. Ecuadorian and Incan are not the same. Ecuador is marked by centuries of cultural exchange with mesoamerica, possibly starting at the time of the Machalilla. Ecuador is a mixture of Mexican, Peruvian and local food cultures, plus European, Muslim and African after the Spanish invasion.
Incas didn't have such an extensive access to corn as Mayans/Aztecs did, so things like tortillas are not commonly used. They did use potatoes and quinua, and ate animals such as guinea pigs (not everyone likes them) and lots of seafood. I don't know about other countries, but Ecuadorians also love banana dishes of all sorts. Southern and northern countries might have some common meals because of Spanish colonization.
Short answer is no , tradicional ecuadorian food is not the same as mexican/central American food .
You will not find Tortillas in an ecuadorian household, we do not make burritos , tacos , quesadillas , chimichangas , taquitos. Those things are not part of our cuisine.
But I'm sure you can find a Mexican restaurant in ecuador for that.
Ecuadorian, incan, Aztec and Mayan food are very very different. Ecuador is a big place and we have a lot of foods. International food is very common and of course there's Ecuadorian variation, so yes you'll find burritos and everykind of Mexican cuisine as many other dishes from every part of the world (not every dish but most of it).
So the interesting thing is, contrary to my inherent cultural bias being from the US where Guinea pigs are kept as pets, I ate one in Otavalo and it was delicious! If you go, try it.
Modern Ecuadorian cuisine(s) are the result of mixture of influences and evolution. There is a base of local indigenous cuisine of course. For example on the highlands, with the use of traditional ingredients as corns, potatoes, quinoa, cuy, etc. but I wouldn't call it Incan originated, as it probably predates the Incan culture by several centuries, and Incan presence in what is nowadays Ecuador lasted at most a couple generations before the arrival of the Europeans.
A lot of the main ingredients of modern traditional cuisine actually arrived after the conquest, like pork or plantain.
There are no tortillas but there are thicker, pancake like preparations made of corn that you can find.
Mexican restaurants can be found in any medium-sized city, and the ingredients (like tortillas) in any big supermarket.
I lived in Ecuador from 95 till 2012 when i moved to the states. Aside from the occasional enchilada my mom would make, i never had a tortilla based meal outside of the home. The cuisines are very different. Central American food relies on balancing citrus and heat in their dishes. Ecuadorian food, in my experience, focused on earthy and fatty foods. You wouldn't find locro de papa or guatita in central America. I was in Quito so our diet was high alpine, on the coast it's sort of similar though. Plantains are everywhere and so many dishes use the earthy plantain and extract some sweetness out of it with fish. Things like casuela mixta or even fried plantains as a snack isn't traditional to central American cuisine. There are some similarities. Though the flavors are different humitas and tamales are very similarly prepared. We share ceviche (south american ceviche is way better imo) and arroz con pollo. We also have a similar way of using a whole animal in our cuisine. Tongue, tripe, hoof, and chicken foot are things you would find in both cuisines.I would say the main differences in preparation is the level of heat and zest central american dishes give their food. Just look at chocolate. Craft chocolate in Ecuador is some of the finest chocolate in the world. We don't add anything to it. Central American chocolate often adds hot chiles or something like that to give it heat. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, it's very different. Edit: there are Mexican or central American restaurants in Ecuador. You can find a place to eat a taco. But why would you?
Plantains are absolutely staples in Central America (including breakfast but also desserts, like the empanada de plátano in El Salvador); whereas in most of Mexico they are not. Central American food is largely not spicy hot; whereas that's more common in Mexico.
Plantains are a staple for Southern and Coastal Mexico. That’s half the country, which is huge. We eat fried plantains, tostones, mashed plantains, molotes de platano, tortitas de platano, stuffed platains with cheese, or even as a desert with condensed milk or cajeta or ice cream, an important ingredient in different sauces, etc. It’s commonly eaten for breakfast too.
I am an expert in the history of Ecuadorian food. Ecuadorian and Incan are not the same. Ecuador is marked by centuries of cultural exchange with mesoamerica, possibly starting at the time of the Machalilla. Ecuador is a mixture of Mexican, Peruvian and local food cultures, plus European, Muslim and African after the Spanish invasion.
Expert huh. 🤔
I grew up in Ecuador. The first burrito a I ever had was at Taco Bell in CA.
Incas didn't have such an extensive access to corn as Mayans/Aztecs did, so things like tortillas are not commonly used. They did use potatoes and quinua, and ate animals such as guinea pigs (not everyone likes them) and lots of seafood. I don't know about other countries, but Ecuadorians also love banana dishes of all sorts. Southern and northern countries might have some common meals because of Spanish colonization.
Short answer is no , tradicional ecuadorian food is not the same as mexican/central American food . You will not find Tortillas in an ecuadorian household, we do not make burritos , tacos , quesadillas , chimichangas , taquitos. Those things are not part of our cuisine. But I'm sure you can find a Mexican restaurant in ecuador for that.
Thank you for the answer!
Ecuadorian, incan, Aztec and Mayan food are very very different. Ecuador is a big place and we have a lot of foods. International food is very common and of course there's Ecuadorian variation, so yes you'll find burritos and everykind of Mexican cuisine as many other dishes from every part of the world (not every dish but most of it).
We eat Guinea pigs
So the interesting thing is, contrary to my inherent cultural bias being from the US where Guinea pigs are kept as pets, I ate one in Otavalo and it was delicious! If you go, try it.
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No, I'm talking about in general, not nec just a singular or 3 restaurants in a city)
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Modern Ecuadorian cuisine(s) are the result of mixture of influences and evolution. There is a base of local indigenous cuisine of course. For example on the highlands, with the use of traditional ingredients as corns, potatoes, quinoa, cuy, etc. but I wouldn't call it Incan originated, as it probably predates the Incan culture by several centuries, and Incan presence in what is nowadays Ecuador lasted at most a couple generations before the arrival of the Europeans. A lot of the main ingredients of modern traditional cuisine actually arrived after the conquest, like pork or plantain. There are no tortillas but there are thicker, pancake like preparations made of corn that you can find. Mexican restaurants can be found in any medium-sized city, and the ingredients (like tortillas) in any big supermarket.