In the Kitchen with Paula
Written by Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma
Images by Fiona-Louise Ntidendereza
for Bia! Zine Issue 02
In the kitchen with Paula Martinez, Fiona-Louise and I are shown the beauty of cooking Ecuadorian food. Not just a first for us to eat, but a first for Paula to cook for her friends.
Paula learned how to cook her favourite dishes through long calls with her grandma, aunts and mother. “It has been a process, but it’s really really cool.”
While cooking and sharing food with her friends - an integral part of her culture - is nothing new to Paula, many of her dishes were an ode to her favourite food - Brazilian home cooking.
Paula, who is both Brazilian and Ecuadorian, notes how the large Brazilian population here and her longing for the distinctness of her grandmother’s northern Brazilian cooking made slipping into the rhythm of cooking Brazilian food come with ease. But as a proud Ecuadorian, she’s determined to make Ecuadorian cooking as loved and appreciated as any other food she cooks and every other food we eat.
words by Paula Martinez
I’m making a dish that’s basically shrimps with garlic. It’s called camarones al ajillo. There’s no direct translation in English because the word means cooked in garlic. It’s from the coastal side of Ecuador, where my dad is from. On the coast we eat all the seafood, which I love! I was surprised that it’s not very common to eat much seafood here in Ireland even though it’s an island.
I’m using a chilli pepper from back home called pimenta malagueta. They’re very Brazilian. Then I have cumin. In Ecuadorian cooking, cumin is so important. But I have to mix like five different cumins together so they’re actually strong. I add white wine, it should be practically drowning in wine and cream. Irish cream is magical, it’s so good. It elevates everything! You don’t cook the shrimp for long, so after a few minutes the dish is ready. It’s served with rice.
We call the crispy rice that’s very cooked at the bottom of the pan, cocolon. We love it and think it’s a prize to get it. If you have friends coming over, you’ll give it to your friends because you love them.
I’m also making llapingachos with a sprinkling of pork on top. The pork is cooked for 5 hours. I love llapingachos. It’s made of mashed potato and mixed with the best ingredient in the world, achiote. Achiote is from Ecuador. My mom brought it for me when she came. If she didn’t, I couldn’t exist here. It’s is a paste made out of a root and we put it on everything. The llapingachos also has red onion, green onion and white onion inside. Llapingachos are kind of hard to make. It takes around 3 and a half hours because you need to rest the mix and fry them on low fire so that it can brown properly. It’s a whole thing.
I got the recipe from my mom the second time she came to visit me because I love them and I hadn’t had them in like 3 years. I tried to make it twice and I didn’t get the portion of achiote that should be in it right. Of course, it shouldn’t be too much or too little. But now it’s definitely how it tastes back home so I’m happy. I’m really good at remembering flavours so I just keep tasting until it tastes that same way.
For like 2 years I lived with my friend and her family who were white south Dubliners. If I cooked, they found the smells and spiciness very intense. I didn’t necessarily find it hurtful because cultures are different, but I learned to dial down my flavours. Since I moved in with my partner, Mark, I can do everything again! I’m back to full flavours.
