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 Laylita,
looking eagerly for your new recipes several times a week, I will try the avocado sauce which looks very tasty to accompany your suggestion of chorizo empenadas filled with cheese. However, that recipe I cannot find on your site. Any suggestion?
Thanks a lot from a cold but sunny Holland, Jurriaan
Hi Jurriaan – The chorizo empanada recipe will be posted later today.
Hola Layita! Soy mexicana, mi novio es ecuatoriano. Tenemos un poco mas de 3 anos de novios, y de vez en cuando le cocino. No hace mucho me empezo a pedir que le hiciera ciertos platillos ecuatorianos que nunca en mi vida habia escuchado. Y fue cuando empeze a buscar en internet, y encontre esta pagina. Me encanta!
He comido varios platillos tipicos de Ecuador, y todos, absolutamente todos me han fascinado. Espero que cuando cocine mi primer bebida o platillo me salga rico, y que a el le guste. Lo primero que voy a intentar hacer es es la Colada de Avena, que por cierto,es deliciosa y refrescante. Gracias!
Hola Blanca – Gracias por tu comentario, cualquier pregunta que tengas me avisas! Saludos!
I was so excited to find your site! We recently moved to Ecuador to make it our home. We are on the coast but have found a lot of food to be very bland here. I knew there had to be much more to the food than what we were seeing on a typical menu! Now I can get the fresh ingredients, which, as you know, are so plentiful and make my own Ecuadorian meals! I was so hesitant about the ceviches but I am actually excited to give a few a try. I have tasted it and liked it, just didn’t seem right to eat “raw fish”, although people eat sushi all the time! Thank you so much!!! I loved the tour of Loja that you wrote about as well. That is one of the first places outside of the coast we want to explore! Gracias.
Hi Laylita!
We lived in Ecuador for 16 years and we consider it home and miss it very much. We celebrate special occasions with Ecuadorian food and it brings back great memories!
I’d like to know if you have a connection to get the recipe or just the recipe for the marinade that Los Cebiches de La Ruminahui uses for their Pescado Asado. I crave it!!
Dios Le Bendiga y mil gracias por las recetas!
Gina
Hi Gina – I’ll ask around and see what I can find out!
I tried your fanesca recipe last Easter and it was amazing. I am Ecuadorian but grew up in NY, so it was really important for me to get it right–especially because I had my parents over, as well as visiting relatives from Ecuador. When I told my mom I would be cooking the fanesca (my first time), in typical Ecuadorian mom fashion, she said, “You can’t do it without me because you’ve never done it before. How will you know what to do?” I said, “I have a recipe.” She answered, “You can’t make fanesca from a recipe.” It was the “little of this, little of that” in her talking. And guess, what? You can make fanesca from a recipe! Thanks, Laylita. I can’t believe I waited this long to subscribe.
Glad to find some new ideas for cooking. My hubby and I both love to cook and try new things all the time; we love spicy foods. So many of your recipes are getting tried soon at our house. Thank you.
Un placer Leyla y mil gracias por las recetas. Soy de Guayaquil y vivo en Miami. Acabo de volver extranando el caldo de bolas, asi que puse la frase en google y apareciste!
Hoy es el dia que espero hacerme master en caldo con tu receta! Ya te cuento como me fue. (Me atrevi a invitar amigos :)
Saludos
Hey Laylita!
I just joined you blog and feel accomplished of having done so! All I can say is that I love your yummy and original recipes and really Thank You for sharing them with us! I came from Ecuador about five years ago and still miss all those typical dishes Ecuador offers. I am specifically, from the capital, Quito. One again, so glad and proud to know there is still people like you that honors our country with such a great influence in the U.S. Best of luck…XOXOXOX…
Johana G.
I too am very impressed with you! I hold an honorary Chef de Cuisine certification as a Teaching Chef. I am a Catalan Portuguese from a very old Sephardi family who works as a Detente Banker servicing 9 presidents of S. Am. in their federal banking. I have copied your recipes to use as I must entertain many of these people and I know they will love your dishes. Please never stop excelling, thank you.
Hi Laylita,
I was amazed to see your picture because after going through all those wonderful recipes I thought you were an Ecuadorian lady! (which just means how great your recipes are, no offenses)
I also grew up in Ecuador after my parents decided to settle in Guayaquil, and I’m missing Ecuadorian food soooo much now that I’m in college in the US. Thank you so much for sharing such amazing recipes!! I agree that it is hard to find the right ingredients here, but your simplified versions (such as the colada morada) are truly helpful!
You are also right about how Ecuadorian food can be loved by anyone. My family is East Asian but we find Ecuadorian cuisine absolutely fantastic to our taste.
Again, thanks for keeping up this wonderful blog! :)
Hi Marissa – I am Ecuadorian! I was born there and Ecuador will always be my country, but I look like a gringa since my parents are originally from the US, though they are also more Ecuadorian now that they lived more than half of their lives there (and still do).
Hola Laylita quiero felicitarte por tu blog, me encanta. Yo soy Colombiana y mi esposo es Ecuatoriano have 27 años estoy en este paÃs y he aprendido a cocinar como tu, platos muy variados y me encanta la comida Ecuatoriana, aunque tengo que confesar que no es mi especialidad y cada que voy a preparar algo de tu paÃs salgo a ver mi librito de recetas y ahora desde que mi esposo encontró tu pagina pues salgo a prender mi tableta. Muchas gracias por compartir tus recetas de una forma clara y sencilla, pero especialmente quiero felicitarte por el respeto que le das a los Ecuatorianos a su comida y a su cultura, yo también los quiero mucho, esa tierra me dio un maravilloso esposo. cuÃdate y sigue adelante con tu buen trabajo.