RouteBaños

Melcocha: Baños's Candy-Pulling Street Tradition

The melcocha — a traditional sugarcane taffy candy pulled by hand in the streets of Baños — is the town's most distinctive food tradition; the public candy-pulling, the flavours, and the shop fronts of the melcocha vendors are one of Ecuador's most charming street food cultures

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Melcocha Candy Making
Melcocha is made from panela (unrefined sugarcane), cooked into hard balls and then pulled on metal hooks until opaque, chewy and aerated; the drag process — done in shop windows and street frontages — is both a technique and a performance that attracts audiences
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Flavor variants
Baños melcocha comes in several flavors - the traditional natural varieties, guava, peanut, orange and chocolate are the most common; the city's melcocha shops, concentrated on Ambato Street, compete for taste quality and the spectacle of their candy draw
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Sugar Economy Connection
Baños is surrounded by sugarcane-growing valleys — the panela (raw sugar block) produced in the valleys is the raw material for the melcocha tradition; the connection between the agricultural valleys, the city's food culture and the tourist economy is direct
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Aguas Termales
Baños de Agua Santa is named for its hot springs - the volcanic thermal pools heated by the Tungurahua are the town's original attraction; the pool complexes (especially the Piscinas de la Virgen at the foot of the waterfall) are the social ritual of the evening for locals and visitors alike
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Basilica de Nuestra Señora
Baños Basilica – dedicated to the Virgen del Agua Santa – is the spiritual heart of the city; the church is decorated with vivid paintings depicting miracles attributed to the Virgin during the eruption of Tungurahua; the devotion to the Virgin as protector against the volcano is a living faith
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Sugar cane juice
Guarapo - freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, served cold with a squeeze of lime - is the cheap, refreshing drink of the Pastaza Valley; the sugar cane press machines work on the street corners of Baños and in the market; the natural sweetness and lime balance are exceptional