What to eat Colombia? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Discover Colombia : Gastronomy

Located at the junction between Central and South America, between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and between the Andes and the Amazon, Colombia is an incredibly heterogeneous territory with an exceptional biodiversity. This richness can be discovered through a very tasty cuisine that uses a particularly wide range of ingredients, both indigenous to Colombia and from all over the world. Mainly populated by Mestizos and Europeans - Spaniards, but also Italians, Germans, Slavs or British - Colombia also has an important indigenous, Afro-Caribbean and Arab population, having fled the persecutions of the Ottoman Empire. All of these communities have influenced in their own way a Colombian gastronomy that makes use of a host of vegetables and starches prepared with beef, pork, chicken, fish and seafood, not to mention gourmet desserts and an exceptional coffee.

Products and eating habits

Colombian cuisine includes an important base of starches such as rice, corn, cassava, plantain, sweet potato, potato and wheat, used to prepare various breads and pastries. There are also several cheeses (queso), often made from cow's milk, with a rather light taste, such as the queso costeño, from the Caribbean coast. Paipa

, from the Sogamoso Valley, is semi-hard and mature, with a more pronounced taste. Goat cheese can be found in some areas, but it is not very common.

The roads are dotted with fondas (small family restaurants),estaderos (inns),asaderos (grills), etc. Colombian food, from breakfast to dinner, is generally hearty. The menu of the day (almuerzo del día), often consisting of soup, a typical local main course, fruit juice and tinto (coffee

), is still the best way to eat to your heart's content for a small price. You can alternate with international cuisine, which you can easily find in all the major cities of the country.

Colombians usually get up very early and start their breakfast (desayuno) with coffee, accompanied by a savory dish that varies from one region to another. Lunch (almuerzo) is taken around noon, but restaurants usually serve until 3:00 p.m. or even all day. The first course is usually a soup, followed by a main course of meat or fish, accompanied by the trio of rice, beans and plantains. A dessert is not automatic to finish the lunch. Around 10-11am and 4-5pm, we will have las onces, a kind of snack, usually a hot chocolate with cheese, pan de yuca (cassava bread) or a pastry. Dinner (cena

), taken between 7 and 8 pm, is similar to lunch, but is less substantial. The Colombian diaspora is influential and many of its nationals work in the kitchen where they have popularized the gastronomy of their native land. For example, in 2021, two Colombians, Zoraida Agamez, nicknamed Chori, and her daughter, Heidy Pinto, were awarded the prize for best cookbook of the year at the international Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Entitled Envueltos, the book is a collection of traditional recipes, including envueltos, which are cooked in a corn husk, similar to Mexican tamales.

The classics of Colombian cuisine

Poultry is very popular and among the most popular dishes isajiaco, a chicken stew with potatoes, cream, corn, capers, and flavored with a local herb, guasca, with a smoky aftertaste. Another widespread dish is sancocho

, a soup combining chicken, cassava, corn, plantain and coriander, with recipes varying from region to region.

The bandeja paísa is a combination of meats - ground beef, chorizo, salchicha negra (black pudding), chicharrón (bacon) - with a variety of accompaniments (black beans, rice, fried egg, avocado). Originating in the Medellín region, it is often considered the national dish. The picada colombiana, or fritanga, is a platter of grilled meats (sausages, pork ribs, salchicha negra, chicharrón), cassava croquettes, plantains, corn on the cob, etc., that are shared. The bistec a caballo is a steak covered with a fried egg and the sobrebarriga a la criolla

is a steak with Creole sauce (tomato, bell pepper and onion compote) accompanied by fried manioc.

The lechona is a typical Tolima dish, made of suckling pig with spicy rice. The butifarra soledeñas are sausages in the shape of balls that are served grilled with a dash of lime juice. The puchero santafereño is a stew with veal and pork, sausages, potatoes, cabbage, corn and manioc. Finally, caldo de costilla is a typical soup of Andean cuisine, composed mainly of beef ribs cooked in a broth with potatoes, garlic, onion and coriander. Fish and seafood are usually served grilled. However, there is the very common ceviche de camarones

, which consists of cooked shrimp served in a sauce made of mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, cilantro and raw onion.

Rice is popular in the form ofarroz con pollo, a spicy rice topped with chicken and various vegetables. More complete,arroz atollado is a dish from Cali and the surrounding area that contains chicken, pork, sausage, potatoes, vegetables and fried plantain. Frijoles antioqueños is a red bean stew cooked with pieces of bacon. On the vegetable soup side, we find the locro, a soup of corn, beans, pumpkin and potatoes. The cuchuco is a thick soup made of wheat, beans, potatoes, peas and pork chops. The changua is a milk and egg soup, served for breakfast, typical of Bogotá and the Colombian Andes. In Colombia, tamales are preparations made with corn or corn and rice. They are wrapped in plantain leaves and steamed, filled with meat or poultry and various vegetables, each region having its own recipe. Closely related are the bollos, which are snacks made of corn or cassava dough, wrapped in corn leaves and steamed. Patacones are fried plantain slices served with hogao

(tomato sauce with green onion). Thearepa is, for Colombians, like the baguette for the French. You can find them everywhere and eat them all day long. These small thick corn cakes replace bread and are eaten with all kinds of fillings. They are pan-fried, but some versions, such as thearepa de huevo - which is filled with an egg yolk - are fried. Thealmojábana is a brioche bun with cheese, while the pandebono - similar - is made with cassava flour. The bizcochos de achira are crackers made with the flour of the canna bulb, an ornamental plant. Carimañolas are elongated fried croquettes made with cassava flour and filled with meat or cheese, similar to empanadas, which are made with corn flour in Colombia. Garullas is a corn bread filled with melting cheese.

Dulces and coffee

For dessert, there is the inevitable arroz con leche (rice pudding), leche asada (egg custard), milhoja (a kind of mille-feuille), cocadas (coconut rocks),enyucado (a dense cake with cassava and coconut), natilla (an egg-free flan flavored with cinnamon), postre de natas (egg custard with raisins) and mazamorra (white corn custard).Arequipe is the Colombian version of dulce de leche, or milk caramel. The bocadillo con queso

is a guava paste that is eaten with fresh cheese.

As a cake, you can enjoy the delicious tres leches, a soft cake soaked in a mixture of 3 "milks" (sweetened condensed milk, unsweetened milk and cream), all topped with whipped cream. The Maria Luisa torta is an orange cake filled with red fruit jam. The pastel de Gloria is a small flaky pastry with guava paste, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Here, the roscón is a shortbread ring filled witharequipe

or guava jam.

With its generous and varied climate, Colombia can grow almost any fruit imaginable, both tropical (bananas, pineapples, mangoes, coconuts, passion fruit, citrus, guava, papaya) and temperate (apples, grapes, apricots, peaches, strawberries, blueberries). But there are also species that are rarer in Europe, or even almost unknown outside South America. Like the feijoa (close to the guava), thearazá (small yellow fruit very acid, appreciated in juice and jam), the fruit of the dragon or pitaya (pink or yellow, with white and refreshing pulp), the lulo (similar to an orange tomato with a taste of pineapple, kiwi and strawberry), the soursop or guanabana (green and spiny fruit with a very sweet white pulp) and the tamarillo

or árbol tomato (acidic with an aftertaste of tomato). Coffee is so important in Colombia - the^third largest producer in the world - that theEje Cafetero, or Coffee Triangle, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2011, for its cultural landscape that represents centuries-old traditions of coffee cultivation. Although Colombian coffee, only Arabica, is considered one of the best in the world, its taste is still quite sweet and delicate and it is preferred to be consumed light in the country. Local chains such as Oma and Juan Valdez offer good coffees and you can order a tinto (long black coffee), an espresso (less concentrated than in Italy), a perico (with a cloud of milk) or a carajillo (with a dash of rum). In recent years, specialized coffee shops have appeared in the major cities, which allow you to enjoy high quality original coffees.

Cold drinks and alcohol

Colombians are extremely fond of fruit juices, which can sometimes be mixed with milk (jugos con leche). They are consumed from morning to night, and often replace our usual carafe of water or pitcher of wine in restaurants.Agua de panela is the most popular drink in Colombia, made with water, panela (sugar cane bread) and sometimes lemon. It is drunk iced or hot depending on the region and climate. The Colombiana is a local soft drink with a vanilla taste. Lulada (made from lulo pulp, sugar and lemon) and champús (corn, panela

, pineapple, cinnamon, cloves and orange leaves) are two popular local drinks.

The favorite beer of Colombians is the Aguila, very thirst-quenching in regions with a hot climate. As for the rest, there is no shortage of choices: Costeña, Poker, Club Colombia and recently the competitor Andina. Club Colombia has won numerous awards in Europe and is available in blond, red and brown. In recent years, many microbreweries have opened throughout the country. The most famous is the BBC (Bogotá Beer Company) which is no longer micro today but still of excellent quality! The refajo

is a mixture of beer and soda Colombiana.

Theaguardiente (fiery water) or guaro, is the national brandy, made from sugar cane and flavored with anise. It is a drink with an alcohol content of 29%. In all the popular parties, it is difficult to do without it.Aguardiente can also be drunk warm with water and lemon, and flavored with cinnamon; it is then a canelazo

, perfect for warming up the cool Bogotá evenings. Colombia produces different qualities of rum. It is drunk dry or in the form of a cocktail. The most popular Colombian brands are Ron Medellín and Ron Viejo de Caldas. Chicha is a traditional Amerindian drink made of fermented corn, with honey or sugar. In principle, it is forbidden, but it is tolerated in some places, notably in the last chicherías of La Candelaria, in Bogotá. As for wine, Colombia has a few vineyards in the Valle del Cauca and in Villa de Leyva, but almost all the wine is imported from Chile and Argentina.

Enjoying yourself Colombia

Timetable Colombia

If breakfast(desayuno) is not included in the price of your hotel room, go to a bakery that serves as a cafeteria for a good selection of typical breakfasts at a reasonable price. Panaderias usually open around 7am. Lunch(almuerzo) is around noon, but restaurants serve until 3pm or even all day. Most of the small restaurants open between 11am and 4pm from Monday to Saturday. The restaurants with more elaborate menus usually serve between 12 and 3 pm and between 7 and 9 or 10 pm. Of course, the hours vary from region to region, from city to city and from country to country, depending on the number of tourists. In tourist areas, restaurants stay open on Sundays until around 5pm and close on Mondays; otherwise most restaurants work from Monday to Saturday. In some cities that receive a lot of tourists on weekends, such as Villa de Leyva, most restaurants only open from Friday to Sunday, or Monday if it is a holiday.

Budget & Tips Colombia

In the markets(plazas de mercado) or popular restaurants, one eats for about $6-8,000 (about €2) for a meal with soup, dish of the day and a natural lemonade. In more upscale restaurants, thealmuerzo del día is around $15,000 and the a la carte dishes are around $25-30,000, which is still very reasonable. And for the equivalent of €20-30, you can really indulge in inventive recipes fusing Colombian and international flavors.

The dishes are always copious in Colombia, and it is often possible to ask for the leftovers to be packed if you do not finish your dish. It is also worth noting that hotels that do not have a restaurant sometimes allow meal delivery. In Colombia, the company Rappi dominates the delivery market , far ahead of Uber Eats and some others.

What costs extra Colombia

The meal usually comes with a natural fruit juice. If you want water, it will be served in bottles and charged. Ask for una agua con gas for sparkling water, una agua sin gas for still water. Bread is not automatically served at the table as it is in France and will be charged as a supplement.

Outside of popular restaurants, it is customary to leave 10% of the bill as a tip(propina). You don't usually have to do much tipping, given the friendliness of Colombian waiters. Some high-end establishments include gratuity in the bill (this must be indicated on the menu). In this case, not leaving anything will not be perceived as pettiness. Other establishments do not include the 10%, so the waiter may ask if you want to include the tip in the bill: ¿Desea incluir el servicio? It is difficult to refuse, even if it is your right, when you know the amount of Colombian salaries in the restaurant industry...

The local way Colombia

There is a lot of street food in Colombia. The comida callejera (street food) is widespread in all the lively neighborhoods. It is there that one offers oneself a freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning, or guanabana in the afternoon; an arepa (simple corn cake or one filled with eggs or cheese); an empanada (turnover filled with meat, chicken.... fried most often); a sausage(chorizo); a corncob(mazorca); a pan de bono (bread filled with guava) or an oblea (wafer with arequipe, a milk cream similar to the Argentine dulce de leche ). Delicate stomachs will be careful, hygiene is not always good and fried food is not always easy to digest! On the other hand, there is not much risk of "tourista" for the fruit juices, in the cities or villages where the water is not drinkable, the sellers use mineral water.

Many people are used to having lunch in restaurants or cafeterias during the week. The daily menus are cheap and copious, and you are served quickly. The traditional corrientazo is originally intended for workers and other physical laborers. For starters, you can choose between sopa o frutas: soup or small fruit salad. The plato fuerte (main course) consists of carne (beef or pork), pollo (chicken) or pescado(mojarra, pike-perch, trout, tilapia...), accompanied by rice (coconut in the Caribbean), patacones or papas (potatoes, but rarely fried, in which case it is called papas a la francesa). The small papas criollas are a delight, a must try! Pasta (spaghetti in general), frijoles (red or black beans) or lentejas (lentils) are also on the menu. A tiny salad accompanies it all, and a slice of avocado, or a fried egg. A sweet dessert is not usual, but a fruit compote or a small cake (flan, etc.) is sometimes offered. The meal is always accompanied by a natural fruit juice, and if not, by a gaseosa (soda), never by a carafe of water.

The menú ejecutivo is traditionally for office workers, with a little more variety. Be careful with meats, they are usually served very cooked, even when you specify rare. The food is not too spicy, but you can always ask for a littleaji (chili).

To be avoided Colombia

It is not common for everyone to order their own pizza. The pizza is shared in Colombia. Therefore, it is not difficult to ask for different ingredients for one half and the other half.

Another thing to know, gentlemen, is that if you have lunch or dinner with a Colombian woman, do not offer to share the bill! You risk losing a good part of her esteem, the invitation being implied, especially the first time!

Kids Colombia

Children are welcome in the restaurants. Colombians are used to going to restaurants with their families, so there is no need to worry about that. High chairs(silla de comer para niños) are often available, as are children's menus.

Smokers Colombia

Smoking is not allowed inside the restaurants, but also on the terraces. The non-smoking areas are called Espacio libre de humo.

Tourist traps Colombia

Beware of restaurants full of pushy people, it's not a good sign in general...