Florida´s “Cosas Finas” (Fine food)

What you need to know

- “Cosas Finas” are the perfect combination of mote, toasted corn and crackling

- The house specialty are hornado, fritada and crackling.

- Its “agrio” is legendary and it is the one that marks the distance with other hornados from Quito.

- It is located in the north of Quito, in front of the former Mariscal Sucre airport, in La Florida neighborhood at Manuel Serrano n5267 and Pedro León streets

- You can also walk from the Bicentennial Park (300 meters)

-  It attends from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm from Monday to Sunday

150 years of Quito tradition

In the north of Quito, the Pillalaza family retains a gastronomic tradition that is close to 150 years. The combination of mote, pea, toasted corn and pork rind is what is known as "fine things" and in this family from Quito, native from La Magdalena neighborhood, they are the preamble of the most famous hornados and fritadas from “La Carita de Dios.” (God’s little face).

Already in 1875, Doña Sarita Pillajo, began this Quito tradition when in San Francisco Square, in the heart of Quito's Historical Center, she installed her motes stand with toasted corn and crackling. The soul of Cantuña, surely witnessed how Doña Sarita and her daughter, for several decades, put flavor to San Francisco square. Poor Cantuña that, as a fan of Deportivo Quito, had nothing to do but see.

Doña Rosa Emilia Angos, Sarita Pillajo's granddaughter, inherited this tradition and already in the last century, in the 60's she moved the business to what we know today as the Florida neighborhood.

The move was for love

The young Rosa Emilia fell in love with an aviator and to be close to him she moved to the north of Quito, on De La Prensa Avenue, a few blocks from the old airport, and opened her first shop. Over the years, this couple bought their own place, in the buildings of the aero technicians’ cooperative that little by little was transformed into the La Florida neighborhood.

It was for love of food, since her husband was also a chef in the Ecuadorian Air Force and both of them enjoyed the secrets of cooking to the fullest. It was for love because they decided to respect the family tradition and specialize in typical Ecuadorian food.

The fourth generation

Galo Ernesto Pillalaza is a 58 year old Quiteño, Doña Rosa Emilia´s son. He remembers how at age of 7, he was given the task of cooking mote and preparing toasted corn. At that time, things were more difficult, peeling mote by hand was an achievement and rock the toast to make it burst, a technique that required years of practice. When he finished school, Galo retired from his job, which he happily confesses was his playground. Studying engineering took up a lot of time, but he never stopped looking after his parents and even left a relay.

Doña Irma Pintado, his wife, accompanied her in-laws in the business and when they retired, she assumed complete control of the business. It has been two years since Galo, after finishing his adventures as an engineer, has dedicated himself 100% to this business. At the end of the day, he is the one who knows the secrets of the recipes.

He says that there are no magic recipes while a picaresque smile is drawn on his face, then he ends up confessing a couple of tricks. It all has to do with the selection of the pork, because the piglet at a certain age is more delicious, then more than the recipe, the trick is to know the amounts of the ingredients and to know the exact time they must be added. Galo winks at us when we ask him to tell us how his agrio (sour) is made.

Quito Hornado Sour Recipe

Ingredients:

• • 1kg of tomatoes
  • ½ kg of paiteña onion
  • Honey
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 3 “sutile” lemons
  • c/w parsley
  • c/w coriander
  • c/w salt
  • 3 chilis
  • Sugar

Preparation

• • Cut the paiteña onion
  • Chop the tomato into small squares
  • Chop the coriander and chili (remove the seeds)
  • Liquefy tomatoes, chopped in large pieces
  • Add salt, honey, lemon and blend
  • Combine on a tray with the rest of the ingredients
  • Add salt and sugar. And serve!

There's no bad fifth

Junior, is the fifth generation of The Fine Things of Florida, from his father he learned another secret, which is to study. While his father studied business administration engineering in order to strengthen the finances of his business, he studied architecture. Junior knows that his generation will be responsible for the business expansion and he has been working on that project the last few years.

Galo junior responsibility is a very big one, he dreams of repeating the anecdotes of his father, who tells how customers who return to the store after 40 years, repeat that the flavor remains the same. Great responsibility, because keeping the tradition of his great-great-grandmother will demand a lot of work, which he knows, that if it is done with love, it gives good results.