This evening we said goodbye to Sarah, Maguy and Mattieu. They threw a little party and we brought some ingredients to make canelazos, the local warm alcoholic drink. In the morning I walked down from Mariela’s house, where I’m staying my last days in Quito. I walked by the Santa Clara market before, but I never entered. First thing I started looking for the naranjillas that are needed to make the drinks. These fruits are from the tomato family and have a distinct taste that I can’t describe. They are very tasty though and I hope to be able to bring some seeds with me and grown them in my garden.
An old lady asks me what I want, so I tell her I need naranjillas to make canelazos. I ask her how much I need to make the drink with one bottle of liquor. Either she doesn’t understand me, or her hearing is bad, but she just goes on about prices and numbers. In the end, some other fruit vendors help me out with the number of fruits I need. I leave with 12 naranjillas for $2,-. In the afternoon I buy the bottle of aguardiente that I need at a small liquor store.
A lot of people came to the party, and many tried our canelazos, which was pretty good. Though Mari did most of the real cooking (that’s why I’m also not entirely sure of the amounts in the ingredients). Tomorrow Sarah will go back to France. The other two will follow in a few more days. Leaving me to wonder who I’m going to throw a goodbye party for…
Ingredients (makes about 2 jars):
Aprox. 3 L Water
12 Naranjillas
5 Cinnamon sticks (or leaves)
7 Straws of lemon grass
½ kg Raw cane sugar (or panela)
Aguardiente
Wash the naranjillas well, remove the fuzzy stuff and cut out any soft spots. Boil the cinnamon, lemon grass and naranjillas in a big pan of water for about 15 minutes. Then take out the fruits and liquefy them with a little water. Pull through a sieve to get the chunks out, and then keep the juice apart. Boil the water and spices about 10 minutes longer with the sugar. Then blend the spiced water and the juice. It should be the right amount, but don’t make the juice too watery. Bring it to boil again and add the liquor right before serving.
Naranjillas may be replaced by oranges or blackberries. In the case of oranges: peel them and boil them whole first. Then follow the recipe like it is. Aguardiente is a typical sugarcane liquor. It may be replaced by rum.
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