I was cooking lunch one afternoon. I had just received some fresh seafood from a our good friend Maria from Esmeraldas, located in the north of the ecuadorian coast, who gave me some very high quality fish straight from the ocean. I tried something new…I cleaned the sepia (calamari), got rid of the skin membrane, then cut it in slices of 8 cm by 5 cm. I placed them in between film wrap and passed it trough the pasta machine.
The result was a very thin layer of calamari, which I then prepared a pistachio and fresh herbs stuffing for, which resulted in a calamari cannelloni. To go with it, I made a cauliflower smooth gelee, and grilled scallops.
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.
