My name is Layla Pujol, my family and friends call me Laylita. I was born in Vilcabamba, Ecuador and currently live in Luxembourg. I spent several years in the US, both in Austin and in Seattle, and our family recently moved to Europe. My recipes are inspired mainly by traditional Ecuadorian dishes that I grew up eating in Ecuador. However, my love of food – and therefore the recipes posted here – go beyond Ecuador and include anything from Latin America, my mom’s spicy New Mexican cooking, my grandmother’s homemade Southwestern dishes and Texas style BBQ, my husband’s (and his family’s) delicious French food, new dishes introduced by my amazing group of international friends, and of course the great variety of seafood, vegetables and fruits available in the Pacific Northwest.
I am currently working on my first cookbook, which will focus on delicious Ecuadorian recipes (adapted to my style, of course!).
The longer version of my story
My approach to cooking and general instructions for using this site
Additional contact information
Photo and content use
Recipe development, product reviews, disclosure, and advertising
Privacy policy
If you have any questions or comments you can leave them in the comment section, or you can email me directly layla at laylita dot com
I’m americana de sangre, ecuatoriana de corazón, wishing I was back where I grew up (Ecuador – Quito/Pifo/Papallacta area) but living in the Midwest US — and although I have several recipe books from Ecuador, yours have much more detailed explanations of ingredients so I can FIND the stuff up here! Yay! Now if I could only figure out how to use the harina de plátano, cebada, and cebada tostada I have on hand… suggestions? Growing up, every time I tried to learn from someone, they always did it so fast/haphazardly I couldn’t follow! I’ve managed to cook a pretty good fritada, my ceviche (which I figured out on my own by experimenting with flavors) follows yours almost exactly, much to my delight; my llapingachos were okay, but I have no doubt your suggestions for potato type will be very helpful (I was trying to use the Yukon Gold) … I would dearly love a good recipe for empanadas de carne, Locro de Papas, and help on how to find choclo here in the U.S. to make humitas de sal (as it stands I am stuck with fresh/frozen humitas, but they’re better than none!! I’ll be making your ajà today — the frozen tomate de árbol and ajà peppers have been waiting in my freezer for me to do just that as soon as I found the recipe!! Can hardly wait! ¡I miss my ajÃ! Do you have a suggestion for how to use canned tomate de árbol, or canned naranjillas? I have found the syrup or whatever it is they put them in changes the flavor dramatically and I’m not even sure what to do with them that way.
Hi Donna – Thank you for your comment! I can relate to everything you say ! To answer some of your questions: you can make colada (just like colada de avena or quaker) with the harina de platano, you can make sopa de cebada (with some potatoes and meat or cheese). For humitas, I’ve had pretty good results using the corn here, my suggestion is to buy the corn later in the season (the fresh younger corn is sweeter and more liquid) and then add corn flour to make the humita mix starchier and less sweet.
Are the canned tomates de arbol and naranjillas in a sweet syrup? I just bought some like that and am thinking about using them to make a sweet dessert sauce to serve on top of bizcochuelos or ice cream. Another idea (if you like cocktails) is to use them for cocktails (you can puree the fruits and make fruity pisco sours or mix the puree with some condensed milk and aguardiente or cachaca).
Wow! I’m so happy I came across your website! I’m looking forward to making these Ecuadorian dishes that remind me of my childhood! I love how you have a picture of every step! Thank you so much!!!
Hi Layla:
I just dicovered your blog today and I´m in love!! Tambien soy latinoamericana y me encantan tus fotos y lo sofisticada que haces cada receta… me declaro tu fan nº 1!
Laylita,
love the website. especially the pictures of each dish. there’s nothing worse than having a recipe with no idea of how the finished product should look like.
I stumbled upon your site – I love Ecuadorian food! Some of these receipes bring back so many memories for me!
Hi Laylita,
As a child, with a little help from a friend from Bolivia, I was eating the Empanadas Mendocinas and was in love at first bite. Since then, my childhood friend’s family moved 1000 miles away and that put a halt to my Empanada source. I have been looking at recreating the South American treat I had as a child and after years of searching I found your site!! Thank you for posting your wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures, you’re a star!!!
Hi Laylita – I just found your website, and I love it! I made fanesca today, and looking around at recipes I found your site. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zamora-Chinchipe, and count many Lojanos as dear friends – Loja is one of my favorite cities, so many good memories there. Your recipes and photos are amazing and beautiful, and I will be coming back any time I have a craving for Ecuadorian food. Please keep up the amazing work, and I would be first in line if you ever have a cookbook coming out!
Hi Laylita!
Thank you for your truly wonderful website. I made your beef Empanada Recipe, and they came out perfect, just like your photos! I was terrified of the dough (because I’m not a baker) and it was so easy and wonderful! The filling was fantastic. I had a friend that was from Equador and she used to make this outstanding seafood rice dish. I never caught the name of it, but it had baby shrimps, octopus, clams, peas and who knows what else. It was delicious. Any thoughts? Also, a book with your fantastic photos and easy step by step instructions would be great! For me, and for giving as gifts as well. I hope it’s been a consideration on your part.
Thanks,
Lizette R
Orange County, Ca
Hello, Laylita! I just returned from a week in the northern Sierra (in and around Cotacachi), and completely fell in love with Ecuador. I was on a scouting trip for a home, as my family is planning to move within the year. While there, we fell in love with the food, but especially the salsa de aji, which we vowed to make as soon as we returned to the US. Unfortunately, good recipes are hard to come by, and I actually found your site while searching on the term “cebolla paiteña”, one of the aji ingredients I came across (I guess the closest thing in the US is the shallot, as you’ve mentioned).
I’ve looked for a recipe similar to the one we had (there are so many, but none using all the ingredients we were told were in the aji we had in Cotacachi…they seem to be closer to the aji we had in Quito, which may as well have been a different sauce altogether). It is clearly a condiment that varies significantly according to region. I guess we’ll just have to be content with the memories!
So thrilled to have found your website, so that we can re-create some of our favorites. Now, if you can just get me that aji recipe. :) Best wishes! Tracy
I eat Pupusas at a mexican restaurant here in Tulsa and have not been able to find a recipe for them anywhere. They are absolutely delicous and a favorite of mine and my husbands. We were told it was an Ecuadorian recipe and I hoped that you have had them or know how to make them. If so can you feature them on your site or email a recipe to me?
Hi Susan – I love pupusas, but they are a typical dish from El Salvador, they are also very popular in Guatemala and Honduras. I haven’t tried making them yet, but if I do I will post the recipe. Here are a few recipes I found for pupusas:
http://www.whats4eats.com/breads/pupusas-recipe
http://www.doortoelsalvador.com/Cuisine/pupusas.php