Fanesca Recipe

Fanesca is a traditional soup recipe from Ecuador. Its components and preparation vary from one region to other of the country, if not from one family to another. It is typically prepared and served only in the week before Easter. It is a rich soup, with the primary ingredients being figleaf sambo, pumpkin, corn, fava beans and twelve different kinds of grains, representing the disciples of Jesus, and salt cod, cooked in milk thickened with pumpkin seeds, due to the Christian religious prohibition against red meat during Holy Week (the week before Easter). It also generally contains hard boiled eggs, fried plantains, and sometimes empanadas. It is usually garnished with parsley and other native vegetables.