I have a question for you:
What’s the weirdest food you have ever tried?
You probably need some time to think about it, so I’ll go first.
Have you ever seen The Lion King?
When Timon and Pumbaa are eating bugs, they say bugs are slimy yet satisfying.
And in the Spanish version, they say bugs are slimy but delicious.
Well, that’s a lie.
Once I went to a restaurant with two friends. It was a restaurant with food from the Amazon. The main course was fish, and it was delicious, but the entree….
There is a worm in the Amazon called chontacuro. I don’t know why, but people eat it. I had heard about this worm several times, and when we saw that it was on the menu, we ordered some.
As soon as I saw them on the dish, I regretted ordering them, but it was too late, so I ate those worms.
If you are sensitive, you might want to skip the next 10 seconds.
When I started chewing them, they tasted like pork. It wasn’t bad. But after a few seconds, those worms burst, and the insides coated my mouth like butter. It was weird.
To be honest, I wouldn’t say it was actually horrible, but I wouldn’t say it was my favorite food either.
So, what do you say in Spanish when you like or dislike a meal?
Well, if you want to say “I like it,” the Spanish phrase is “me gusta”.
- Me gusta el café (I like coffee)
- Me gusta el chocolate (I like chocolate)
- Me gusta el helado (I like ice cream)
And if you are talking about something in the plural, you need to say “me gustan”, with an N at the end.
- Me gustan las hamburguesas (I like hamburgers)
- Me gustan las papas fritas (I like French fries)
- Me gustan los vegetales (I like vegetables)
And if you want to say that you don’t like something, you just need to add the word “no” at the beginning of the phrase.
For example:
- No me gustan los chontacuros (I don’t like chontacuros), those worms I just told you about.
Ok, since we are talking about those worms, there is something interesting you should know.
Most of the people from the US that I’ve met have tried , and none of them have told me “me gustan los chontacuros;” actually all of them have told me “no me gustan los chontacuros,” but for some reason, it is still recommended for people who come to Ecuador to try those worms as part of the Ecuadorian experience.
If you ask me, there are so many good options if you are looking for traditional Ecuadorian food, that chontacuros shouldn’t be on the list.
But that’s only my Ecuadorian opinion. If other Americans recommend eating those worms, you should probably try.
Then you can tell me how they tasted for you.
