Conscious ingredients. Low carbon footprint Foods.

The recipe of the day from the Eoletto Kite Café restaurant in Riohacha. Calle 4 No 9-87

Shapulana Guajira.

Ingredients: Guajiro or Kapeshuna wild bean, pumpkin, yung goat, fleur de sel.

This food of Wayuu origin is reviewed by several Guajiro authors* as one of the “traditional” dishes of the ancestral cuisine of Alta Guajira. Its ingredients respond to the extreme climate and the wisdom of the desert and come from nearby markets. The Guajira shapulana is the local representative of marriage between cultures that occurs throughout America. A type of Chile con Carne from the Mexicans that adapted to the regional conditions of La Guajira.

The kapeshuna beans, small, quick to cook, as if they knew about the scarcity of water, are sold in Riohacha by indigenous merchants; They come packaged in 200 gram bags and you have to choose and wash them to remove impurities. This bean is so tender that only by soaking it overnight can it be ground and then roasted in a pan in the form of tortillas.

The pumkin, Cucurbita maxima, is grown in abundance in the department, especially in the municipalities of Maicao and San Juan Del Cesar and is one of the important lines of the local agroindustry, it is exported in the form of flour and its harvest time is winter passed; It is a creeping plant that lasts a long time in the cupboard thanks to its hard bark, a perfect design from nature to withstand the harsh heat of the desert.

The goat is the living input par excellence in Wayuu cuisine, always fresh, it runs throughout the territory looking for stubble and is an immediate resource that feeds the indigenous family. Of European origin, it was brought by the Spanish during the Conquest of America.

The goat is generally consumed on the same day of its sacrifice, which happens at dawn, and just as in the desert as in the cities, it is an activity carried out by experienced Wayue slaughterers. The buyer’s choice of the best piece of meat depends on how early you gets up. At nine in the morning the city markets have already run out of biche goat, a young animal with tender, slightly musky meat. This dish can also be prepared with sheep.

The flower of salt is common in Guajira, it is found naturally in the lagoons and salt flats along the coast and its extraction and production on a larger scale occurs in the town of Manaure. It is a natural salt that has no additives and is rich in iodine and helps prevent thyroid diseases.

The preparation. Cook the beans in water until tender, set aside. Clean the biche goat meat well and remove bones and fibers, cut it into small pieces, cook over moderate heat with fleur de sel, a little neutral oil, onion and garlic. If you want you can add coconut milk. Add the beans. Wrap the pieces of pumkin, with rind and without seeds, in aluminum foil and put in the oven for half an hour. Serve garnished with a sprig of parsley.

Eating dishes made with local ingredients guarantees the food security of the region. Wild beans enrich the genetic pool and are an algternative to monoculture grains that impoverish the land. Buying from indigenous dealers, who survive from the commercialization of products grown on a small scale, preserve traditions and strengthen our roots.

*Ancestral and Traditional Cuisine
from La Guajira A’lakajawaa Edited by SENAhttps://repositorio.sena.edu.co/handle/11404/7308