Empanadas are Beautiful

My discomfort in my withdrawal from technology is matched by an increasing awareness and appreciation of simple pleasures, like eating bread. Forget about Netflix and iPods, give me a glutinous piece of heaven to eat and a grazing cow to watch and I´m satisfied – a happy stomach and good company.

In fact, I´ve grown particularly fond of a certain variety of bread called empanadas. An empanada is basically bread that was folded over before it was baked, with a little bonus in its center. This bonus is often cheese or a sweet of some sort, but my favorite is an empanada con queso y cebolla (with cheese and onion). This seemingly odd combination of flavors is a gastronomic perfection of astronomic proportions, especially when the top of the empanada is decorated with little sugar crystals. I would argue that it´s a super food, on the level of peanut butter or quinoa. But this view might becontroversial since most bread dough here is made with loads of pork grease. I learned this when I mixed dough for Rafael´s mother when she was teaching me how to use her clay oven. She poured quite a bit of the old H1N1 juice in there. In general the experience was really great (hope to write about it next time I bake bread with her), but it did leave me wondering if there is any vegetarian bread in Ecuador. It also made me realize why the empanada dissolves so wonderfully in your mouth, yes, just as the sugar crystals begin to hit your taste buds. For those of you in Brooklyn, when you think empanada con queso y cebolla, think lard bread from that little bakery window (in Carroll Gardens?) – it approaches that level of indulgence.

A plain piece of bread costs about $0.10 or $0.15, but because empanadas con queso y cebolla have some value-added goodness, they generally run $0.25 or $0.30 each. I allow myself to enjoy one every few days. With considerations for my budget, my health, and my overall self-esteem I´ve determined this rate of empanadaconsumption to be acceptable.

Simple pleasures are important. A steaming cup of coffee on a chilly morning is a beautiful thing. So is putting on a crisp, clean shirt that you washed by hand and dried via that very basic solar technology, sunlight. Have you watched a cow graze recently? They´re incredible! There´s a young boy who lives across the street who I always hear playing his recorder as he walks home from school every afternoon, totally engrossed in his music making. It´s popular to go for walks (dar una vuelta). The aim is not to exercise or to do errands but to see what you see and to welcome a simple pleasure – maybe you´ll bump into a friend. These are random ephemera that I´ve just begun to notice, primarily because they are not hidden by electrical gadgets that would distract me and keep me from being present to my surroundings. There are so many beautifully mundane things to notice!

To lead simple lives, it seems, is to give ourselves opportunities to be aware of and appreciate our most basic and arguably our most important connections to the people around us and to our landscape. And as much as I had been seeking a simple lifestyle in the States, technology is ever-present and addictive. It needs to be put in its proper place. Ecuador is forcing me to do that, and I´m grateful.

So, come watch a cow graze. We´ll eat some empanadas.