Tiestos, Inspired Cooking in Cuenca

There's a small restaurant in Cuenca's historic district along calle Juan Jaramillo with a menu bold enough to revolutionize the idea of good food in Cuenca. Chef Juan Carlos Solano, who founded the restaurant only a couple years previous, serves only a couple dishes a day and has no printed menu. His menu, which is recited to guests, is a choice of two meat dishes cooked and served in tiestos, traditional clay platters placed over flame. His entrees are preceded by a menagerie of sweet and spicy salsas, variations on the typical Ecuadorian ají (chile)sauce served at meal times. The salsas feature surprising ingredients such as apple, pineapple, sweet pepper, cloves and the licorice-flavored local spice, ishpingo.







"We were created to break schemes and to change dining in Cuenca," says Solano. From Solano's point of view, the restaurants in his city offer the same menu and don't take full advantage of the rich culinary culture of the region.

Solano is a chef in the true sense of the word - an artist who plays with the different flavors, local ingredients and colors in his dishes. On our particular day at the restaurant, we were served steak seared in a deep purple blackberry, red wine and ishpingo sauce. Our second plate was a chicken dish served in a creamy golden curry sauce with crunchy hazelnuts. The dishes, each presented steaming and fresh from the fire, complemented each other in taste, texture and color and were served with several vegetable accompaniments: local new potatoes, steamed choclo, and semolina grain mixed with finely chopped peppers and herbs. Dessert was served on plates prepared by Solano's wife - designs of flowers or women in indigenous dress drizzled in chocolate and colorfully sweet passion fruit sauce.

Oil paintings of regional scenes hung from the walls, vases of bright white calla lilies rested on the counter tops and local woven fabrics covered the heavy wooden tables.







While his patrons enjoyed their meals, Solano played the role of gracious host and socialized with his diners, creating an intimate atmosphere. We ate our meal in relative silence, reveling in the flavors before us, only pausing to murmur an "mmmm" of enjoyment or exclaim a "¡que maravilla!" in surprise.

"I've never known a table of women to be so quiet at mealtime!" said Solano as he approached us.

In addition to Tiestos, Solano, a true Cuencano, hopes to open a café with limited service hours, serving, not the typical americano breakfast offered to tourists by most cafés on the plaza, but what is seen in the homes of Cuencanos - a simple sweet roll and good cup of café pasado.



For more information, visit: www.tiestosrestaurante.com