The other day my niece Rebbecca asked me on Facebook  if I heard about Anthony Bourdain doing a show in Ecuador? "You're kidding," I told her. "I have my Tivo set up to record all his shows."

Knowing he traveled to Ecuador, I couldn't wait! To... see him try some dishes like, cuy,tripa mishqui in Quito, and then encebollado de albacora in Guayaquil. But I wasn't prepared for his visit to Puerto Lopez! Hell that's where I am going this August. My wife and her brothers own a restaurant there called the Blue Water Grill. I have been enlisted to educate and refine her cooks with my gringo methods and techniques!

Maybe this is the big break for this sleepy village or will it be overrun by the tanned and beautiful crowd that Anthony so disdains. In any case, I will be behind the counter cooking, teaching and trying to better my Spanish as well as learn how to make Bolon, the way it is made in Manabi, even though my version with Morbier cheese and Neuski bacon rocks!

Anthony, give me a call if you need a table!

Pre-ferment

First build

Starter:

9g

Flour:

9g

Water:

14g

Second Build

Starter:

32g

Flour:

27g

Water:

42g

Third build

Starter:

100g

Flour:

53g

Water:

56g

Total=209g, return 9g for next bread.

Final Dough:

Flour:

510 (I used 95% White flour, and 5% whole wheat)

Water:

278g

Salt:

12g

Levain:

200g

My levain was fed in approximately 8 hour intervals, and the final dough had about a two hour bulk ferment. The dough was shaped and really took off, I think it must of been perhaps an hour of rising and plop into the fridge. After about 9 hours I baked the loaf in a Creuset pot for a total of 50 minutes, 25 with top at about 470 F, and opened at about 450 for the rest of the baking.

This is going to Susan at wild yeast for Yeastspotting on Friday....

A fun and friendly food, it hits a comfort zone and has so many different toppings as well as shapes. And though I am mad about sourdough, and have had some good success with pizza, I can say yeasted dough isn't that bad either. More key is the heat source that can make or break a the sought-for pie. At home your pizzas will take on that chubby look, pale in comparison to those fluffy charred specimens for which great pizzaiolas are known.

Though the pies cooked in my home kitchen are good, I still wanted to make a pizza at work to genuinely compare to the best; up-skirt, puffed and crisp blackened edges with a bit of pride. In my experience, pizza like bread has parameters, style's and toppings,hydration, etc... but it's a pretty loosely interpreted craft that has re-awakened both amateur bakers and aficionados around the globe. Like the homebakers crafting a loaf, pizza is just an extension or nearby cousin, and worth the investigation. I mean, who doesn't like pizza?

So here it is, Carbonada alla Chilena for Toti!