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
Thank you Laylita I’m looking forward to all your delicious recipes.I love cooking and so, to your health.
Maryvic
Hola Layla,
I came across your site after reading an article on The New York Times website (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/dining/11immi.html?scp=5&sq=after work&st=cse) about what immigrants living in NYC cook after coming home from work. The article mentions “guatita”, the Ecuadorean delight. I googled it and came across this site and immediately became a fan.
I am from the Dominican Republic and absolutely love cooking and trying new cuisines, coming across this site made my day.
Gracias!
Rhadames
Wow! I’m so excited I found this site! I just spent 2 years in Quito, Santo Domingo, and Otavalo and I LOVE everything I’ve found on your site. Expect me back here at least once a week to praise another ecuadorian dish. That french stew looks dynamite as well. Thanks especially for the encebollado recipe. I would die without it! Thanks again
Matthew
Hola Layla,
Estaba mirando tus recetas y son fantasticas, te cuento que extraño mucho la comida Ecuatoriana tanto como a mi familia. Mi esposo es americano/italiano y su comida favorita es la de Ecuador por supuesto!!!!! La receta de la “guatita” es extraordinaria, antes de leer tu receta yo preparaba la guatita de diferente manera y sentia que le hacia falta algo. Me encanto tratar tu receta. Cuando la prepare para la cena todos quedamos encantados.
Gracias por Compartir tus recetas…… con esas fotos maravillosas que solamente con verlas a veces no es necesario leer las recetas porque estan tomadas en una forma muy profesional y artistica.
Muchos Saludos desde New York
Mariana
Hola Laylita,
No más quiero agradecerte por la obra excelente que es tu blog. Hace cuatro años vivà en Quito por un tiempo. Me enamoré de la comida, pero no aprendà cómo cocinar la mayorÃa de los platos que más me gustaron. Pasé la Navidad en Bogotá, y de allà pasé el año nuevo en Quito. Volvà con muchÃsimas ganas de cocinar TODO (me encanta cocinar y siempre lo hago). En fin, tu blog me ayudó mucho. Anoche hice una gran cena para los padres de mi pareja como un regalo navideño. Hice llapingachos con salsa de manà como una entrada, con batidos de naranjilla con crema. También hice un seco de pollo, acompañado con arroz amarillo, aguacate, yuca frita, maduros fritos, curtido/encebollado (asà lo llama mi familia quiteña anfitriona), ajà de tomate de arbol. Para el postre comimos queso fresco con pasta/dulce de guayaba y manjar. Todo salio muy bien y estuvo riquisÃsimo. Muchas gracias por compartir tus recetas, y por poner fotos del proceso porque eso también ayuda mucho.
Un abrazo desde Minneapolis,
Raquelita.
Hi Layla,
My wife is from Ecuador, from La Provincia del Oro, not far from Loja where we visited about a year ago.
I just returned from a trip to Puerto Lopez in Manabis, it was great and I am writing about it now. Since I found your site I have put up your link as I think what you do is exceptional, we have something in common, my mother is French.
Hope you will visit my site and post a comment. Oh yeah, by the way I love your rice recipe, I am a chef by profession and your recipe is definitely the best! (shhhh, better than my wife’s and she’s Ecuadorian!)
Muchisimas gracias!
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy – I’ve been to Machala (in El Oro) several times, they have some really good seafood dishes! Thanks for the link, I am checking out your site right now and really like it, the pictures make miss Ecuador!
Great site! Beautiful photos and delicious food! What type of camera do you use?
Thank you, I use a Sony DSC-R1.
I just returned from a month in a Vilcabamba (I was also there last year, and for two months in the summer…Vilcatrampa indeed). So anyway, I went online to look for a humitas recipe and yours is the first website I opened…and was tickled to know you grew up in Vilca. Ah, synchroncities.
I am so happy to have found your site! My husband’s family is from Cuenca and I’ve been to Loja and the Vilcabamba area. The Ecuadorean recipes I have found previously all seem to be Guayaquil-area and you know that Cuenca/Azuay is just not the same! Thank you, it will be wonderful to share this with my children! If you have any suggestions for something I should try first that a five year old will love, let me know!
Hi Allison – I’m glad you found the site and that you like it, there are a lot of differences between the dishes from the Coast and the Highlands, so hopefully you can find some that are more typical of Cuenca. My kids love the locro de papas soup, very easy and quick to make, as well as perfect for this time of the year.
Wow!! I have to say.. that I think you are awesome!.. I came across your website b/c I googled a recipe for a “ceviche”. Your recipes are great and the pictures are just expectacular.. I think that the pictures are key to learning how to cook. I’am more of a visual person and your pictures..talk to me!! I love ecuadorian food…
Are you planning on hosting your own cooking show?
Thanks,
ONY