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
Hi, I don’t know how I happened upon your website. I like it. I was hopping you had a share button, like the one’s used to share websites with friends on facebook for instance. Just a suggestion. Thanks
I visited Ecuador in 2010 and have been thinking about a delicious breakfast prepared and eaten outdoors after our morning adventure in the cloud forest. Thanks to your website I can now try to make my own bolon de verde and empanadas. I can’t wait to try more recipes from your site also.
Hola, Laylita,
I’m so pleased to find your site. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Milagro, Ecuador in the 60’s, and have fond memories of some much the food and the people. Except for the two years spent there, I have lived my entire life in…Seattle! And, in 2004, some of us went back for a reunion, and the people who organized it live part of the year in…Vilcabamba! Had enough coincidences? I’ll stop.
Now I have a young friend who is going to teach on the Galapagos for 3 months, and I wanted to send him off with a typical meal. My question for you is, this dinner will be on Sat. the 18th, and I will need certain key ingredients: naranjillo juice, achiote, pre-made empanada discs, chifes…where is the best place to find them, in Seattle or nearby? My first thought was Central Market in Shoreline. Any other ideas?
Be assured I will be bookmarking your site for the future, and I’m really looking forward the the tastes and smells that we’ll experience this weekend, thanks to your recipes.
Charito (as they called me back then…)
Sorry for the late response, there are a few places in Seattle where you can find the ingredients you are looking for:
1) The Latin Grocery store at Pike’s Place
2) La Espanola in Bellevue (NE 20th)
3) La Superior in Bellevue (in back of Crossroads Mall)
4) La Tienda in Bellevue (140th Ave SE and SE 16th)
There are probably more around, but these are the main ones I’ve found.
Querida Laylita: Para mi ha sido maravilloso encontrar esta pagina de Web. He tenido el gusto de probar muchas recetas ecuatorianas. Las he compartido con mi familia y hemos gozado saborear a los tiempos nuestra comida tipica.
Tengo una reunion familiar el 24 de este mes. He comprado un puerco de mas de 25 libras y no puedo hornearlo en mi horno es demasiado grande. Queremos hacer hornado y no se si pueda hacerlo en un grill de gas. Me pudieras aconsejar si lo puedo hacer y como lo hago. Gracias Martha
Just found your website and I love the recipes and the photos! I currently live in Peru and it’s amazing the similarities between the food cultures. I can’t wait to try out some of these delicious recipes…thanks for doing this!
I’ve been kicking myself for the past 8 years for not learning how to make menestra before I left Ecuador. Thank you so much for putting these recipes where I could find them.
Thanks for this subscription.. I am Ecuadorian but never tried cooking our dishes. I came to the U.S. when I was 9yrs old and being raised here, I totally forgot about my roots. SHAME ON ME! Now, I am 33 and sooo excited to really start to enjoy my typical Ecuadorian dishes. Never too late as people say. Tonight, I will be making seco the pollo for my family and I am sooo eager to go home.
hi,
I am ecuadorian but unfortunately never had the opportunity to learn to cook. I was wondering if you had a recipe for Tallarin de Gallina. Have you ever had it.? I love it and can’t find any recipes online.
let me know
lucy
I am so glad I found your site. I tried your Caldo de Bola recipe. I made it for a group of Ecuadorians and unless they were only being polite, THEY LOVED it. Thank you for such clear and specific directions. I’m of Jamaican decent and I’m just becoming familiar with south american cuisine. This is definetely a time consuming dish to prepare but the results are worth it. Thank you for all the work you put into coming up with this easy to follow “dummy proof” recipe. It was a hit.
Thank you so much for publishing these recipes! After living in Salinas for two years I am missing arroz con menestra and so many other dishes. I also live in Seattle where Latin American cuisine isn’t the easiest to find. Thank you, thank you, thank you!