Colombian cuisine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Meals and Snacks
The first meal of the day is breakfast and is eaten upon rising. The main meal of a Colombian's day is lunch, usually eaten between 12:30 and 2:30 pm. The meal may consist of three courses: a soup followed by a main course followed by a drink, but due to lack of time, it is usually just the main dish and the soup. Between lunch and dinner people; mostly kids eat a light snack. The dinner is eaten usually around 7 to 9 pm. Also, after dinner before going to sleep many people eat a "merienda" which consists of a pastry, bread, or croissant with chocolate or coffee. This is more common for people who stay up really late.
[edit] Fruit
Many varieties of fruit virtually unknown to the western world are enjoyed in Colombia, such as the zapote, lulo, curuba (banana passion fruit), mamoncillo, uchuva (gooseberry), feijoa, sweet granadilla, mamey, guama, tree tomato, borojó, arasá (in the amazon region), pomarrosa, anón, chirimoya, guanábana, maracuyá (passion fruit), chontaduro, mora (blackberry), cocota, carambolo, coroso, guayabamanzana (hybrid between guava and apple), sweet small bananas (about 8 cm), níspero and pitahaya. Banana leaves are very common in Colombian cuisine with foods such as quesillos (cheese wrapped in banana leaves) and tamales making heavy use of them.
[edit] Regional cuisine in Colombia
There is a large variety of dishes that take into account the difference in regional climates. For example:
- In the city of Medellín the typical dish is the bandeja paisa. Most people in Medellin don't eat it but people in other cities and countries eat it often. It includes beans, rice, ground meat or carne asada, chorizo, fried egg, arepa and chicharrón. It is usually accompanied by avocado, tomato and sauces.
- In the city of Cali, the most traditional dish is "sancocho de gallina" - a soup composed mostly of chicken, plantain, corn, coriander, yuca root, and other seasonings.
- In Bogotá and the Andean region, ajiaco is the traditional dish. It is also a type of soup made of chicken, potatoes, and flavoured with a locally grown herb called "guasca". Traditionally, cream and capers are added just before eating. Both soups are served with white rice, salads with a hint of lemon, avocado, or plantain chips, sweet or salty. For breakfast people often eat changua, a milk, scallion and egg soup.
- In the Caribbean coast, spicy cooking, with fish and lobster, is practiced. Coconut rice is a common dish along the coastal cities.
- In the Llanos, barbecued meat, such as the "ternera llanera" is common, and also typical river fishes like the "amarillo".
- In the Amazonas, the cuisine is influenced by Brazilian and Peruvian traditions.
Inland, the plates resemble the mix of cultures, inherited mainly from amerindian and European cuisine, and the produce of the land mainly agriculture, cattle, river fishing and other animals' raising. Such is the case of the sancocho soup in Valledupar, the arepas (a corn based bread like patty). Local species of animals like the guaratinaja, part of the wayuu amerindian culture.
- In the Tolima region the Tamales Tolimenses are a delicacy. These tamales are made of a corn dough and feature peas, carrots, potatoes, rice, chicken, pork and various spices. They are wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled for three to four hours.
[edit] Other cuisine
There are also Gourmet restaurants and food chains, these kind of food has recently grown in Bogotá and there are different varieties of food to chose from, including Japanese cuisine to Arabic food; there has been also a new proposition of doing fusion foods and ideas to restore the traditional Colombian Cuisine too.
[edit] Major Exponents of Colombian Cuisine
- Teresita Román de Zurek
- Harry Sasson
- Sofia Ospina de Navarro
- Carlos Ordoñez
[edit] Colombian dishes
The "bandeja paisa" ("Paisa platter") is a national favorite. It consists of white rice, red beans, ground beef, sausage, plantain, morcilla, chicharron, arepa, avocado and a fried egg.
The "ajiaco", an elaborate stew, is one of the national dishes along with the bandeja paisa.
The "sancocho", a soup combining vegetables and meat or fish, is very popular also, with recipes differing from one region to the other
The "cuchuco", made up of wheat, habas, potatoes, ribs, peas, is a very nice thick soup from Boyacá.
[edit] Beverages
- Aguapanela To make this drink one dissolves the panela (a kind of sugarloaf) in water and adds lime juice.
- Aguardiente Alcoholic drink most used on colombian parties. There are from 20º to 40º drinks and are a variation of the spanish alcohlic drink "Anís"
- Guarapo
- Champús (Made of corn, pineapple, lulo, and other special ingredients}
- Chicha (Formerly forbidden strong alcoholic beverage which can be done with virtually everything within range being corn the most typical ingredient. Beverage originally made by indigenous peoples in the Andean region}
- Canelazo (Alcoholic version of the agua de panela mixed with cinnamon, aguardiente and sugar in the borders of the glass, serve warm}
- Refajo: It's Colombiana (Nacional pop) mixed with beer.
- Colombia is also known world-wide for its exquisite coffee, and it is considered to have flavor unmatched by any other.
Malta is also a very common beverage. It is non alcoholic with a molasses flavor. Colombiana is also a very popular soda similar to creme soda. Chopped fruit is also mixed with soda to make up salpicón (literally meaning big splash) which is served along with some meals or is also taken as a snack. Another traditionally popular drink from Cali is Lulada which is a drink made from lulo and is usually made in the form of a smoothie. Other drinks are:
- Masato
- Chirrinche (Distillated guarapo)
- Biche (Alcoholic drink of afrocolombians made up with unripe sugarcane)
- Guandiolo (From the caribbean and northern Antioquia)
- Tumbacatre (Afrocolombian drink)
- Sabajón (Sweet and creamy from the Cordillera Oriental)
[edit] Breads
- Arepa Depending on the regions, the types of arepas differ in colour, flavour, size and garniture. Some of them are sweet and some are salty. The most typical are: Arepa Paisa or Antioqueña, arepa de huevo (consisting of eggs) arepa santandereana, arepa de choclo, arepa de yuca, arepa de anís, arepa ocañera, among others. They're usually eaten for breakfast or in the afternoon snack (onces) with chocolate, cheese and others.
- Buñuelos (round-shaped, usually having a slightly sweet taste in spite of being cheese breads, cooked on a frying pan)
- Pandebono
- Pandeyuca (Baked cheese bread made with yucca flour)
- Almojábana
- Pandequeso
- Empanadas (not quite like Chilean or angentinian which are baked. These ones are fried and are sweet or salty, depending on their content: Beef, chicken, ETC.)
- Carimañolas (like empanadas but made up of manioc)
- Pan de Sagú
- Pan de Maíz (cornbread)
- Achiras del Huila
- Bizcocho de Cuajada
- Roscón (a soft and sweet bagel filled with either arequipe or bocadillo)
[edit] Desserts and sweets
- Arequipe
- Manjar blanco (a variation of arequipe)
- Panela (unrefined brown sugar)
- Bocadillo (Soft guava paste) In some regions they use local fruits to make their own fruit pastes
- Postre de natas
- Cocadas (usually round-shaped, these are common to both Chile and Colombia, made up of coconut, pineapple, brown sugar and other tropical fruits; especially common in the coastal regions)
- Alegria
- Queque
- Merengue (can include fruits, or other sweets, from strawberies to even chocolate chips)
- Chiricana
- Algodón de Azúcar (cotton candy)
- Dulce de Nispero
- Bolis (Flavoured water on ice)
- Alfandoque
- Dulce de Maduro
- Dulce de papaya
- Dulce de las tres leches (literally meaning "three-milk dessert", since its mainly composed of regular milk, condenced milk and malted milk)
- Obleas (flattened, thin layer of bread, similar but about 6 times bigger to that of the Host, filled with arequipe)
- Brevas con arequipe
- Dulce de papayuela
- Herpo
[edit] Meat, poultry, and seafood
- Chicharrón (fresh fried pork skin)
- Lechona (pork stuffed with rice, corn, peas and spices)
- Cábano (Strong flavoured fermented sausage)
- Morcilla / rellena (thick sausage filled with rice, peas and cow blood)
- Chunchullo (stuffed and fried poultry intestines)
- Sobrebarriga al horno
- Bofe (fried and salty cow lungs)
- Ternera a la llanera o mamona
- Butifarra (Originally from Spain)
[edit] Side dishes
- Arroz con coco (coconut rice, usually accompanying seafood dishes)
- Aborrajado (deep fried plantains stuffed with cheese)
- Hormigas culona or santandereana (big fried ants available only in the region known as Santander}
- Hogao (sauce made with onions and tomatoes partially fried. Used for meats, arepas, rice and other dishes}
- Colombian recipy for churros.
- Pandeyuca Recipy, kind of bread maid from yuca.
- Tamales boyacenses. Like the mexican tamal but better.
[edit] See also
- Caribbean cuisine
- Native American cuisine
- Colombian Recipes on CookBookWiki.com
