Restaurant Review: Sativa Studio Café in Banos, Ecuador...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful, and safe holiday this year. Since Thanksgiving is my favorite of all holidays I’m cooking a big dinner per usual, but I’ll talk more about that tomorrow. Right now I want to tell y’all about an amazing restaurant my husband and I ate at while in Banos, Ecuador.

It’s called Sativa Studio Café, and it is the hidden jem of hidden jems, let me tell you. Not only was this the best place we ate in Banos, it was the best place we ate in all of Ecuador, in fact the best place we ate on the entire trip. The food menu is small, limited to three dinner options each of which come with homemade chips or salad, and one breakfast option - but their drinks menu is extensive. They offer coffees, fresh juices, Health Elixirs and Tonics, and Kombucha. Not only is the food fantastic - carefully and lovingly prepared by the owners, but the atmosphere is chilled out and relaxed. The food takes time to prepare, because it’s fresh as can be, but you won’t mind the wait as you sit back in recycled and repurposed furniture, grooving to the reggae vibes.

We ate here twice during our stay in Banos and tried a pretty good selection of the menu. We also talked quite a lot with Jessie - who owns the café together with his wife - and he was kind enough to show us the organic garden they have in back where most of the vegetables they use come from. The garden was brilliant, and I was completely amazed at how much they were able to grow in such a small space. He also told us a little about how the restaurant came to be, and how it was decorated. Friends and local artists painted murals on the inside walls, and virtually everything inside is recycled or rescued from ending up in the trash. There are a nice collection of colorful tile topped tables, some brightly colored couches and arm chairs from the 1950's, much of the flooring comes from when the church was renovated and put in a new floor. Some amazing, heavy wooden lounge type chairs were rescued from the side of the road. This is a couple that doesn’t like to add to consumerist culture, and doesn’t like waste - I can fully appreciate that, and the minute you step foot into the café you’ll appreciate it too, because it really adds to the nature of the place. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a cooler café in my life.

But, enough about all that, what about the food you ask? Well, on our first trip I decided to go with the Patacones and Salad. Patacones are smashed fried plantains that have a garlic lime marinade. These were simply delicious. I’ll take any excuse to eat some plantains but these were probably among the best I had all trip. The salad was delicious as well, not that there was any doubt it would be considering their phenomenal garden. This was not your average side salad either, it was full of mixed greens, chopped bell pepper, onions, sprouts, apple, pumpkin seeds, edible flowers and even more that I can’t remember. The dressing was simple and minimal, so a not to outshine the freshness of the vegetables. Seriously this was the perfect meal. With it I ordered a kombucha which was probably one of the best kombucha’s I’ve ever had anywhere! So flavorful, and not too vinegary like some I’ve had.

Patacones with Salad

Kombucha! 

For his meal my husband went with the Tamale which I believe contained a mixture of black beans, Swiss Chard and some other vegetables. This thing comes steamed in a banana leaf rather then a corn husk and it’s probably the most moist and flavorful tamale I’ve ever had. I only had a tiny bite but it was enough to taste the full-on flavor. My husband loved it, and devoured it in minutes along with an equally amazing side salad. For his drink he ordered the Seven Spice Coffee which was hands down the best coffee I’ve ever drunk anywhere, and it became the inspiration for my Epic Coffee . I will never drink another normal cup of coffee again!

Tamale and Salad

Check out that bomb-ass salad! 

A somewhat inside shot of the tamale

On our second visit my husband went with the Patacones and a salad while I decided to try the Veggie Burger with yet another Salad. The veggie burger was AMAZING! Probably one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had, full of lentils, grains and vegetables. It came topped with lettuce, tomato, sliced beets and a few other things. So much flavor and it really hit the spot after we’d had such a long day.

Veggie Burger and Salad 

For drinks that night we went a little overboard. We both ordered a Seven Spice Coffee, then my husband ordered a Fresh Passion fruit Juice - which is perhaps the best thing I’ve ever tasted and Jessie makes it in a magic bullet! I decided to go with the coconut pineapple juice which was like no juice I’ve ever had, and the most amazing thing is that the juices were sweet, but there was no added sugar. We also tried some of the elixirs only I wish I could remember what they were called or what was in them. One of them was one of the more popular sellers and for good reason, all of them were good but some were stronger then others. Jessie even gave us a free shot of another popular elixir they make, which was really good, and super nice of him.

The Amazing Seven Spice Coffee!

All and All this was the best dining experience I could have hoped to have, and I highly, highly recommend you check out Sativa Studio Café if you’re ever in Banos. Seriously, you won’t be disappointed. Heck, if you’re even considering planning a trip to Ecuador - which you should! - You need to take the time to visit Banos, not only for the amazing food but for the beautiful scenery too!

Sativa Studio Café
Calle Luis A Martinez y Eloy Alfaro Street, Correo Central
Banos, Ecuador
097-235-598
Open Mon-Sat 11am-11pm
CASH ONLY!

Vegan Mofo #30 - Taymer’s Eggplant and Seaweed Accras...

Vegan Mofo #30 - Taymer’s Eggplant and Seaweed Accras 

The Region - The Caribbean
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Eggplant and Seaweed Accras
Page #60
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 1 hour

Okay, so the finished product may not be pretty, and the photos don’t do it justice but please don’t let that stop you from making these delicious Eggplant and Seaweed Accras.  Since Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable this recipe never really appealed to me, it never stood out, but my opinion of it changed dramatically at the Toronto Vegetarian Festival. The Festival was back in the first week of September, and so my husband and I decided to shorted our stay in Montreal so that we could go. It was a great time but I’ll give you a full recap after Mofo. For now I’ll say that Taymer Mason herself was there doing a cooking demo. We went to her Demo on Sunday which was the last day of the festival and these eggplant accras were one of the things she made. Watching the demo I saw how quick and easy it was to make, and that got me curious about it. Then I tasted the finished product and was blown away. They were so freaking good! She served them with a slightly sweet nutmeg sauce that really brought them to a new level of awesome. I knew right then, still chewing the piece of Accra in my mouth that I would have to - HAVE TO - make these for Mofo.

Incase you don’t know what an accra is it’s like a savory fried fritter, usually fried and sold by vendors on the street as a quick and easy street food. Sometimes it’s eaten as is, and sometimes it’s eaten in a bread. The traditional way to make an accra is to use fish, but Taymer uses nori to get that fishy flavor and it works! Of course the day I made these I had something else going on the stove, and seeing as how I don’t like to deep fry things anyway I decided to taker her recommendation and bake them instead. That’s why they don’t look as good as on the cover of the book, or as good as they did in Toronto. When you bake them they don’t get that crispy brown shell but they’re still freaking good trust me!

They really are simple to make. It’s just eggplant, salt, oil, nori, onion, green onion, habanero, thyme, black pepper, flour, baking powder, and water. Baking time is about 25 minutes but I baked them an extra 20 just to get them extra crispy. As for the nutmeg sauce, well that’s not a recipe in the book. I sent Taymer a message on Facebook asking her what was in it because I’d loved it so much at her Toronto demo and wanted to recreate it. She replied that it was a mix she’d been whipping up for years that didn’t really have a recipe. Mayo, ketchup, mustard, nutmeg, sugar etc.. so I did my best to recreate it. It didn’t taste exactly like hers but it was still great. Loved the addition of nutmeg. If you own a copy of Caribbean Vegan and haven’t made these yet, do it and I promise you won’t be sorry.

Vegan Mofo #24 - Taymer’s Caribbean Green Split Pea Soup, and Everyday Vegan Ham...

Vegan Mofo #24 - Taymer’s Caribbean Green Split Pea Soup, and Everyday Vegan Ham

The Region - The Caribbean
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Caribbean Green Split Pea Soup
Page # 78 Every Day Vegan Ham is on Page #100
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - About 1 hour and 20 minutes - not including split pea soak time

Originally this was not a dish I had planned to make for Mofo, however last week on a cool autumn afternoon that continued to threaten storms and rain a hearty soup seemed like just the ticket. I had been eying this particular soup recipe for some time, though had neglected to make it because I never seem to have any luck with split peas. I don’t know why, but no matter how long I soak my peas for they never want to get soft if I use them in a soup, cooked in a pot on the stove. A slow cooker is fine, or if I cook them entirely alone for over an hour at a boil that seems to work, but cooked at a simmer on the stove in less then an hour - it never works. Since this particular soup is eventually blended anyway I thought it might work out alright in the end, pus it served a dual purpose because in making this recipe I need to also make 2 other recipes from the book, the Bajan Seasoning which I mentioned last week, and the Everyday Vegan Ham. I was particularly excited about the Ham.

I have made a vegan seitan ham only once before, and I wasn’t overly impressed, for me the flavor just wasn’t strong enough, so I was really excited to try Taymer’s take on it. Especially since - as everyone knows - you can’t have a truly good split pea soup without vegan ham. Well, no I suppose that’s not entirely true, I have made great - fantastic really - split pea soups without vegan ham, but using vegan ham just makes it more traditional I suppose, and thus more comforting on a cool day.

Growing up split pea soup was my favorite soup that my Oma made. She would make it each time my brother or I got sick, and sometimes she would make it just because. That along with her chicken noodle soup were my favorites, and even though I’ve made several split pea soups - or attempted to - since going vegan I’ve never really been able to find one that comes close to my Oma’s. Until now that is. If you take the heat out of Taymer’s split pea soup I swear it tastes every bit as good - if not better - then my Oma’s version. In fact the similarity is uncanny.

Vegan Ham

For her version Taymer uses onion, shallot, celery, garlic, olive oil, split peas, Bajan seasoning, water, thyme, basil, scotch bonnet pepper, nutritional yeast, seasoning salt, onion powder, chili powder, black pepper, liquid smoke, salt, and the Vegan ham. I followed her recipe exactly except I used a more liberal amount of liquid smoke, and cut back on the scotch bonnet pepper. I also didn’t puree the entire soup as I like my soups a little chunky. Of course that old problem of some of the peas not getting soft enough happened once more even after soaking for 10 hours, but the soup was so good I didn’t mind much. My husband and I ate two heaping bowls a piece and garnished them with some extra Bajan seasoning for good measure. A delicious meal for sure.

But now, you’re probably wondering about the ham am I right? Well it was beyond amazing! Truly the flavor was so good, so spot on, and really reminiscent of what I remember actual ham to be like. For her recipe Taymer uses vital wheat gluten, salt, black pepper, paprika, ground cloves, water, maple syrup, pineapple juice, canola oil, liquid smoke, tomato paste and garlic. I really think that what sets her ham recipe apart is the maple syrup, pineapple juice and the liberal amount of liquid smoke. Most sausage or ham recipes call for liquid smoke to get that smokey flavor but they normally call for a couple of tsp where as Taymer calls for a full Tbsp. It really makes the difference. Not to mention that delicate yet pungent flavor of cloves that really makes the flavors in this vegan ham pop. So, so good! Delicious in the soup, great on it’s own, I can’t wait to try it in something else.

Vegan Mofo #15 - Taymer’s Bajan Seasoning...

Vegan Mofo #15 - Taymer’s Bajan Seasoning 

The Region - Barbados
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Bajan Seasoning
Page # 19
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - About 15 minutes

Ordinally I only made this seasoning because it was called for in another recipe in Taymer’s wonderful book “Caribbean Vegan” but since it turned out so wonderful, and tastes so great I thought this little seasoning deserved a Mofo post all it’s own.

Bajan is a word that means ‘from Barbados’ and according to Taymer this seasoning - or some variation of it - is found in every kitchen on the Island.  From what Taymer says in her book, and from what I’ve read online there is no real set recipe, no ‘authentic’ ‘traditional’ recipe, as each family and each chef has their own blend, and puts their own creative touches or twists on it. I kind of like the fact that there’s no set recipe, that’s the ‘real’ Bajan recipe. I like that you can play around with it as long as you follow a few basic principals.

At least as far as my experience with Caribbean food goes Taymer’s version of Bajan tastes, smells and looks pretty authentic to me, as well it should since she’s a Caribbean woman. Her version uses a ton of green onions, a whole yellow onion, garlic cloves, Scotch Bonnet Peppers - though you can sub habanero which I did because I’ve never seen Bonnet’s in my area. - Lime juice, thyme, marjoram, parsley, curry powder, salt, black pepper, paprika, clove and white vinegar. None of these ingredients are cooked, they’re thrown right into a food processor and processed until you get a course sauce. After that your Bajan seasoning is ready to use in whatever creation you like from soups and stews, to tofu, tempeh or seitan. I originally made this seasoning to go into the Caribbean Split Pea Soup I was planning to make, but I can’t wait to try marinating some tofu in it and then firing up the grill.

Now, be cautious, anyone with a low tolerance for spice might find this to have too much kick, and if you’re not real sure about how much you can handle I would recommend using 1 small habanero or even a half habanero. I used 1 pepper, rather then two, and my sauce packs a punch, but the flavor is just so good, and really adds a new level of depth to meals. The other great thing about this recipe is that it makes quite a bit - about a medium sized pickle jar’s worth - a little goes a long way, and it can keep in the fridge for up to a year. How awesome is that?

Vegan Mofo #14 - Terry’s Cuban Black Bean Soup with Cashew Crema...

Vegan Mofo #14 - Terry’s Cuban Black Bean Soup with Cashew Crema 

The Region - Cuba
The Book - Viva Vegan!
The Author -Terry Hope Romero
The Recipe - Cuban Black Bean Soup
Page # 150 Cashew Crema is on page #51
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - About 2 ½ -3 hours - most of it inactive

Today we’re going to stick with our Caribbean theme and talk about Black Bean Soup. I actually don’t know where black bean soup originated, but Terry Hope Romero has it listed as Cuban in her Viva Vegan! Book, and since Cuba is a part of the Caribbean I’m just going with that. You do often hear Black Bean soup being called Cuban Black Bean soup, and since Caribbean Cuisine is such a fusion of Spanish, Caribbean and African cooking that’s good enough for me.

Regardless of where it originated it’s a favorite soup of mine. I used to be really fascinated by Cuban Cuisine before I went vegan and there was a restaurant on Commercial Drive in Vancouver that I used to enjoy, but Cuban food isn’t exactly known for being vegan, and even black bean soup is often made with bacon, ham or bacon grease. The be all and end all of black bean soup for me used to be a delicious version I would get at a Caribbean style restaurant here in Chicago. That version was made with bacon however and so I haven’t had it in years, but I still have a special place in my heart for it’s flavor, and I haven’t made or found a restaurant version of this special soup that can really compare to the beloved one of my pre-vegan days.

Enter Terry’s amazing take on Cuban Black Bean Soup and not only do you have a real winner but a vegan version that can really stand up to it’s non-vegan counterpart, and even beat it I think. The ingredients here are simple enough, black beans, water, salt, bay leaves, olive oil, garlic, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, red wine, oregano, cumin, liquid smoke, red wine vinegar or lime juice and then cashew cream, onion, and cilantro for serving. Though the components are simple enough I think the secret is really in the method. I’ve wanted to make Terry’s version of this soup since I first bought Viva Vegan! But I always found the long cooking time to be daunting. Little did I realize that it really is a necessity, I think it makes all the difference and since most of that time is inactive it really doesn’t seem like such a chore to make. I also think it makes a big difference sauteeing the veggies as a sofrito and then adding them in for the last 35 minutes of cooking, rather then letting them cook directly in the pot as many soups do. I also think the addition of both liquid smoke and wine give it that fermented smoky flavor that most black bean soups have courtesy of animal products. I ended up upping the liquid smoke to double the amount specified and it was perfect.

If it still sounds like a lot of work I recommend making this soup on a lazy morning when you have nothing else to do and while you let it simmer you can read a book, or do some yoga as I did yesterday. It really is worth all of your effort.

For the final product I blended 2 ½ cups of the soup in a blender then poured it back into the pot to get that thick creamy texture, and I made Terry’s Cashew Crema to go along with it. Her Cashew Crema is super easy just cashews, water, lime juice, agave, and salt. This is probably one of the best cashew creams I’ve ever had and I’ve made it several times. It’s perfect for Latin American style meals. Lastly I took her suggestion and garnished my soup with minced cilantro but instead of using raw sweet onion I used sliced green onions because that’s how I prefer my black bean soup.

I really can’t say enough good things about this meal, it brings me back to another time, and transplants me to an Island nation far away. It’s every bit as mouth watering as it looks, and oh so comforting on a slightly chilly, grey, autumn afternoon.

Vegan Mofo #12 - Taymer’s Pina Colada Ice Cream...

Vegan Mofo #12 - Taymer’s Pina Colada Ice Cream 

The Region - The Caribbean
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Pina Colada Ice Cream
Page # 202
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - The active time on this recipe is about 15 minutes, but it requires some before hand prep. Once the ice cream base is made it needs to refrigerate overnight, I actually made the ice cream base very early in the morning and then popped it in the ice cream maker in the evening. Once it’s gone through the ice cream maker for 30 minutes it needs to freeze for 3 hours. Since I like soft serve ice cream I skipped the freezing step.

Okay, it’s finally time to get into the Island spirit, with a Caribbean inspired dessert. This recipe comes from Taymer Mason’s book “Caribbean Vegan” which is a book I’ve owned for a while now, but don’t use very often. This recipe in particular is one I’d been coveting for some time - probably as long as I’ve had the book - and I never made it because up until last year I completely forgot I owned an ice cream maker. I know, how do you forget something like that? Well, it was a wedding gift and it got lost in the shuffle somehow and at the time that I received it while I was a pretty good cook I wasn’t so experimental. Certainly it had never occurred to me to make home-made ice cream back in those days. These days it’s all different, becoming vegan has inspired all sorts of new creative culinary pursuits and I love making things from scratch from condiments to soy milk, to tofu, and even ice cream. Since I knew I wanted to include The Caribbean as a region I explore during this mofo, I thought there was no better time then now to finally try this delicious pina colada ice cream. Even if summer is only a few days away from being over.

Now, some of you might think making homemade ice cream is a chore, or that it’s laborious, but really it’s not. Not if you have an ice cream maker anyway. All you really do is spend a few minutes whipping together a base, you let it cool, and then you pop it into the ice cream maker and it does all the rest of the work for you. When it’s done you can eat it straight out of the machine provided you like soft serve. If however you prefer a more frozen ice cream it’s generally a good rule of thumb to freeze the finished product for 2-4 hours. Once you get the hang of this little dance making ice cream at home is fun and easy, and out of all the ice creams I made over the summer I’d have to say that Taymer’s Pina Colada is probably my hands down favorite. I just really love the mixture of flavors, and they all come together so nicely.

The base is pretty simple, non-dairy milk, non-dairy creamer, arrowroot powder - I used cornstarch -, coconut milk, sugar and coconut extract. Then you stir in white rum - I used Captain Morgan cause that’s all I had - crushed pineapple, and candied cherries. I also didn’t have candied cherries but I used jarred maraschino cherries that I blotted with a paper towel to remove the excess juice. The recipe also calls for Angostura bitters which I didn’t have and couldn’t find and so I just left that out.

Really this ice cream is so superb, it’s better then any store bought ice cream I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise, and the craziest part is that I don’t even like Pina Coladas! No really, I don’t. There’s just something about a pina colada I can’t stand, it’s a strange taste, and texture, but I love pina colada flavored things which is bizarre. Anyway, a scoop or two of this flavorful ice cream will make you feel like you’re in the tropics. I know I’ll be making this again and again.

PS: Since we ate this straight away as a soft serve it didn’t photograph real well in a bowl. So since we were eating it with a pie I made I decided to photograph it topped onto the pie. For anyone curious the pie in question is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s Purple Plum Pie with Crumble Topping from “Color Me Vegan” and seriously it’s one of the best pies I’ve ever had. So damn delicious, and it tasted great combined with the tropical flavors of the ice cream.