Colombian Food!
- Teneals Travels
- Mar 13, 2020
- 5 min read
So I originally started adding in different items Of food I’ve tried into other blog posts but some of the posts were getting SO long.
So without further ado, here are some assorted foods I’ve tried here in Colombia!
FRUIT:
Colombia is full of exotic fruits and I’m thoroughly enjoying trying all of the different ones! If you love fruit, you NEED to come to this country.
CHONTADURO: this is such a weird fruit that tastes basically like nothing and has the texture of a potato that is partially cooked. it’s served with honey and salt on top which makes it much more tasty. Fun fact: it has as much protein as one egg
CAIMITA: this fruit is my absolute FAVOURITE! it’s so sweet and has a nice texture. I don’t even know how to explain it but its delightful!!
GUAMA: This “fruit” comes in a really long, hard shell and you open it up to find these pulp-covered seeds. You don‘t bite it (the seeds are toxic!) but you just suck each seed to get the pulp. It tastes very similar to a banana!
CIRUELA: these look like little grape tomatoes but taste like a combination of a plum and a very sweet tomato. There’s also a giant seed inside that is toxic so don’t eat it if you try this fruit
GRANADILLA: I posted a photo of this one on my instagram story and had so many replies from people! Half of them were like “omg what IS this?!” and the other half were people saying they loved it! You actually slurp the seeds out of this one and they’re sweet but a little citrus-y.
NISPERO - I had a really tough time figuring out the name of this fruit and couldn’t find it via google no matter what, but the man on the street said “Nispero” when I asked what it is called. But its so sweet and honestly, if someone told me that honey came from this fruit, I’d probably believe them because it tastes just like it. The outside is like a kiwi-like skin, so thin and a little fuzzy but the inside is more stringy.
MEALS:
You definitely wouldn‘t go hungry being here - even if you’re a vegetarian! There’s so many options to eat both in restaurants and on the street.
BANDEJA PAISA: this is a traditional Colombian meal which includes: rice, salad, beans, avocado, chorizo, ground meat, pork rind, fried egg, arepa & plantain. ALL ON ONE PLATE! It’s an insanely large meal and is so filling
AREPA CON QUESITO: so this one is different from the next item (Arepa con Queso) because this is a plain corn arepa with the special Colombian cheese (quesito) put on top with butter instead of cooked inside.
AREPA CON QUESO: You can buy arepas all over the place and with assorted flavours. I choose the ones with cheese and they’re basically like a baked/deep fried corn flour chunk with cheese in the middle. They fill you up and are super heavy.
CHORIZO, POTATO & YUCA: So you know what the first two items are but what on earth is Yuca? Well it’s like a potato-like texture, it looks like a root and doesn’t taste like much. It’s served with many dishes though and is on the ends of many skewers served on the streets.
SWEETS & CANDY:
Colombia produces about 2.5 million tons of sugar every year so no wonder they have a sweet tooth like no other! There are tons of desserts and candies to try.
BOCADILLO - this is a guava fruit jelly, rolled in sugar.
PANELITAS: these are milk caramels with coconut flakes in them. Super delicious!
TAMARIND CANDY - this is made from tamarind and is incredibly sweet! It’s squishy to eat and is coated in sugar.
CHOCOLATE/SWEET MILK: apparently you get judged on how you choose to eat this one. It tastes like Nutella, but just not as nutty!
DEEP FRIED PASTRY WITH GUAVA: Now I have no idea what this is called but basically the title says it all. It’s a sweet pastry with guava jelly inside and is deep fried.
CHURRO: I’m pretty sure that this is just a Colombian version of a donut but filled with their beloved caramel sauce and rolled in sugar. I’m not complaining - it was delicious!
OBLEAS: these are wafers with caramel sauce and a Colombian cheese sprinkled on top. It’s definitely a combination of super sweet and salty
PAN CON AREQUIPE/GUAVA:
This is a fresh baked bread/croissant-like bun that is filled with arequipe... Colombia’s favourite caramel sauce! In this photo, it has guava jelly inside.
SUPERCOCO: this is a sticky, toffee-like coconut candy that was super sweet. One is definitely enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.
SWEET COCONUT: Oh my gosh, this one is SO tasty and is incredibly sweet. It was sold on the street and is in a little patty- I assume it is made with condensed milk among other things but either way, it’s so good!
DRINKS:
The lovely thing about Colombia is that you can drink the tap water in major cities which I do appreciate instead of having to constantly bit bottled water.
CLUB COLOMBIA: this is my beer of choice here in comparison to their other popular brand: Aguila. I prefer the red ale instead of the regular blonde lager. You can buy these for around 3000 COP (so about $1.20 Canadian).
LULO JUICE: Lulo is a type of fruit here that tastes similar to orange juice combined with a lemon. it’s pretty tart but very refreshing
AGUA PANNELA: We tried a drink called “Agua Pannela” which is hot water with sugar cane and you squeeze lemon into it to counteract the sweetness. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
TAPETUSA: We were able to try their moonshine which is called “tapetusa” - we tried the coconut flavour and the coffee flavour. It was pretty strong but definitely more enjoyable than other moonshines I’ve tried!
AGUILA: this is their other beer and to me, it has no taste! It’s super light and so I prefer something with more flavour.
Postobon: this is a brand of soda that is advertised all around the country and made me want to try it somehow. This flavour, even though it says it’s apple flavour, tastes more like bubblegum which is interesting. Having a sip of this is more than enough.
SO that summarizes some fun foods I tried while I was in Colombia! I have to say trying new fruit was my absolute favourite and would suggest is to anyone who is passing through!
I can’t wait to see what the rest of my Central American adventures hold when it comes to food & drinks!
- T
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