Episode #126: Abril Macías

Abril Macías is the founder of the magazine Revista Chiú, a print and digital platform based in Ecuador. One of the most fascinating gastronomic destinations in the world, Ecuadorian food remains relatively unknown or misinterpreted. Abril often writes about understanding its place in the world. The country lacks an easily identifiable national dish like ceviche or tacos, however, we discuss during this conversation how its most important factor might be just that. That diversity itself is most relevant symbol of Ecuadorian food. Not the mostly widely spread industrial foods like Cavendish bananas or farm raised tilapia, or even cacao, which was first domesticated in this corner of South America more than 5,000 years ago, as we have somewhat recently learned. To never miss an episode and show your support for independent media, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The Ecuadorian gastronomy movement looks a lot different today than it did when I first started traveling there more than 20 years ago. There’s a much greater appreciation of regional cooking and ingredients than there ever has been. Fine cacao isn’t just being shipped off and processed in Europe, but being processed in Ecuador by artisan chocolatiers. There are companies like Canopy Bridge helping create value chains for niche Amazonian products. There’s a hospital for stingless bees called Hasa! Ecuadorian restaurants like Nuema are appearing on global lists for cooking Ecuadorian food rather than international foods. Indigenous cooks like my Shuar friend Shushui Jimbicti are teaching others about cultural foods. With all these exciting new ideas, food media is extremely important and until recently, Ecuador never really had much of it. Publications like Chiú are helping shift the discourse around the country’s foodways and provide thoughtful, critical explorations of what is going on, thinking beyond just international recognition. Chiú has printed two editions so far, one titled Líquida, about Ecuadorian drinks, where I contributed a story about chicha. The other was about Paisajes Comestibles, or edible landscapes. I highly recommend finding a copy, which can be ordered online if you aren’t visiting Ecuador anytime soon. The next issue will be out in a few months and Abril tells us all about the challenges of publishing in Latin America, but also how necessary the effort is. Host: Nicholas GillCo-host: Juliana DuqueProduced by Nicholas Gill & Juliana DuqueRecording & Editing by New Worlder Listen to the New Worlder podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and most other podcast sites. Or subscribe to our YouTube Channel to watch video clips & full episodes. More stories about Ecuador: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newworlder.substack.com/subscribe