Carles Tarrassó
Vermouths from the coast and the mountains
Development of two vermouth recipes
Concept and execution: Carles Tarrassó and Camilo Ruiz
January 2020
quit, Ecuador
These vermouths are developed within the framework of the project The Inca Dining Room. They are an approach between the concept of European vermouth and the Ecuadorian mistela, a typical sweet liquor flavored with herbs, spices and fruits. For the recipes, we are inspired by how the differences in altitude in the Andes mountain range define the landscape, producing abysmal changes in climate and flora in just a few square km: each plant species is adapted to a certain climate and altitude, and it develops only in that strip, hillside or ravine.
In the Pujilí market, close to San Agustín de Callo, fruits from the coast come together with herbs collected at the top of the páramo.
Fruits in the Pujilí market
The vermouth from the coast is made with vegetables typical of the temperate seabord of Ecuador: tropical fruits with sweet and citrus aromas, flowers and herbs with rounded scents, and the strength of the orange leaf.
Artisan panela in Pujilí
The second vermouth, from the mountains, uses herbs from the páramos that grow at more than 3,000 meters of height. Balsamic, intense and mysterious. Both are sweetened with artisan panela bought at the Pujilí market.
picking sunfo