We have heard about La Yunta since shortly before we went on our Turkey adventure last March. This is a restaurant / tienda / deli that is about a 15 minute drive out of Cuenca, enroute to Loja. Being so far out in the sticks, they have to be creative to get people to come.  Along those lines, they have started having free (yes, free!) cooking demonstrations most weeks.  They even send a bus to pick you up in Cuenca, charging only $3 round-trip.

The demonstration chef is Patricio Coronel, who owns the Corvel restaurant in Paute. Sole, owner of La Yunta, translates everything into English for the mostly Gringo audience.

We learned about the foods, such as the difference between “loma fino” and “loma faldo” and an explanation of why their fino is better than most of what is available in Cuenca. (Most cows around Cuenca are raised in hilly fields, and develop a lot of muscle, whereas cows raised on the flat lands in Tarqui develop more tasty fat.)

We learned how to make “Lomo del Diablo” (top image on this post), “Corvina a la Manzana” (bottom left) and “Langostinos La Yunta Callimanta” (bottom right image).

Also, we learned tips on seasoning meats, preparing “tiestos” (the ceramic cookware), sampling quinoa empanadas, and how to make flambé meats and bananas. And, we learned what not to do … fire in the kitchen (yep, their stove skirt caught fire, which is why only one image above has a skirt).

We each got a sample of the recipes to taste, and later had the recipes emailed to us.  La Yunta also has delivery 7 days per week to the Cuenca area of prepared meals, spices, and deli items such as their lomo fino. Send them an email to lydelivers@gmail.com to get a price list. We will certainly be using them in the future!