Dry ingredients. Desert food at Eoletto restaurant

The richness of the desert

Apparently the desert kills us with thirst and hunger. How do we live off the heat, the sun and the sand? The answer lies in the regional kitchens. The ancient drying and dehydration techniques that preserve with the salt.

Cecina (goat meat dried and aired with the fury of the desert), or the dried shrimp that indigenous merchants sell on the streets of Riohacha and come from the surrounding salt lakes, are examples of these conservation techniques.

It is not unusual to find fish drying on the clothesline in the Guajira houses, the rack of cecina hanging next to the freshly washed clothes. There is food security for that future day when there is no prey for the pot.

One of the most prized foods in the coastal areas is cachirra, a fish similar to an anchovy, which dies of thirst in the salt flats when summer hits and the locals collect and process it when there is a need.

Preservation also means concentration. These humble foods are strong and dense in flavor. Their strength is enough to flavor a large amount of rice, which is what these humble ingredients are usually prepared with, because rice, with its simplicity, neutralizes concentration. It is abundant and, in addition, is enough for the whole family.

The handling of coastal cheese is another miracle of preservation by salt. It is so accepted among the inhabitants of the coast that people do not consume commercial cheese, which is in low supply in supermarkets, but this white cheese that they call “coastal” and sell the neighbors in display cases on the street under the sign “Today there is cheese.” This, of only one variety: pressed and salted, is classified as hard and soft.

Hard cheese is strong, which means that it is saltier and suitable for grating, and softer, which means that it has more water and is fresher. A breakfast without cheese is sad for a costeño people. It is the favorite to accompany green banana or boiled yuca and it brightens up arepas, deditos (Venezuelan tequeños), empanadas and if there is no more, a simple white rice.

Presenting these flavors and knowledge is part of the policies of the Eoletto restaurant in Riohacha that has developed dishes with these humble ingredients demonstrating that the wisdom of the desert overcomes its inclemency.

Paula Sanmartín
Riohacha, October 03/2024