Día de los difuntos a la ecuatoriana

Everytime I walk down Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights I find something new and amazingly delicious. (It’s where I first spotted mamey sapote.)

Today after work I as walking down the street again and I saw a hand-written sign for something called colada morada for $3. I looked it up on my phone really quick and I found a blog about how it’s an Ecuadorian Day of the Dead drink made out of mortiño (the “blueberry of the Andes”), blackberries, naranjilla (click here for a video of me cutting open a naranjilla), babaco (“champagne fruit”), pineapple, and a mysterious spice called ishpingo.

I walked into the bar that was serving it and there were about 20 men watching a bullfight on TV but the sound was on mute. I ordered one colada morada to go and it was served really hot in a to-go soup container.

It kind of tasted like a liquefied blackberry pie with a little mulled wine mixed in. The only thing I didn’t like was the chunks of pineapple bobbing around. I ate it with some pan de muerto that I bought at the bakery next door to the bar.