One of my favorite ways of preparing food has always been rustic, spontaneous and natural. The clay oven is a great option when it comes to making good things to eat. You can prepare a whole baby pork with roasted vegetables, or a leg of lamb marinated in oregano, olive oil and garlic, just as well as a homemade chocolate cake.
Last Sunday we prepared Chilean empanadas, which consist of a local traditional dough stuffed with finely chopped stewed beef, caramelized onions, black olives and a few dried raisins. Everything needs to be well seasoned. Some fresh herbs would give the final touch before they are sealed and sent to the clay oven.
Rodrigo Pacheco is a top-notch Ecuadorian chef who bases half his time in Quito and the other half in Banos, where he prepares meals made from fresh organic ingredients at Casa del Abuelo Art Hotel & Restaurant. He is also the executive chef at Cuisine Standard in Quito.
He has studied with some of the best, including Madrid Fusión in Spain, Alain Ducasse Formation in Paris, the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, and the Instituto Inacap in Santiago, Chile among others.
He has done a Government Cultural Exchange in Canada and the Masters of Food and Wine tour of the world in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
representing Ecuador as an invited chef. Rodrigo was also a Culinary radio show host on Saberes y Sabores.
