More About Colombian Food

 #1. Avena!

I've often wondered what was in these tubs, that you see pretty frequently.  It's a very traditional (the 100% Paisa basically means "local") Colombian drink made from oats, milk, cinnamon and cloves.  Very thick and sweet, and it resembles nothing more than melted ice cream!  It hits my sweetness tolerance but will definitely have this again on a hot day when I'm too lazy to eat.

#2.  Most mornings I have a coffee (1/2 "tinto" black and 1/2 "leche" milk) with a buñuelo, a delicious deep-fried ball of sweet/salty/cheesy goodness.  Unique to Colombia, although I did find them in  a Colombian bakery in Buenos Aires.

Literally less than 20 m away, on the corner, is the reposteria (fancy bakery), but open to the street.  Open 24h so I can get my morning coffee, a doughnut or empanada at any time!

#3:  Mondongo (tripe stew).  Another Colombian favorite.  And reputedly the best version is served at a restaurant named "Mondongos y más" (mondongos and more), so that's where I went.

Like many cafés and restos here, most of the seating is open to the street.  But it's Medellín, the City of Eternal Spring, so that's a plus not a minus.

The mondongo comes with the usual accompaniments, rice, an arepa (corn cake), and a slice of avocado.  And there's a banana hidden under the bowl.

This was a "basic" version, with potatoes, cassava (I think), the tripe, cooked til tender, and maybe some pork, but there I'm guessing.  In any case, rich and delicious!

#4:  if anything can claim to be Colombia's national dish, it's "bandeja paisa," bandeja meaning platter, and paisa describes the locals to the departamento (state).

Just across the corner is a pretty nice restaurant, so that's where I went.

As you can see, it's an enormous plate of food: avocado, salad, an arepa, rice, some kind of ground meat, a chorizo sausage, a blood sausage, beans, chicharrón (deep-fried pork belly), a fried egg, and fried plantains!

I'm a bit proud that I managed to get through everything but some of the rice, but skipped dinner.  Yum, and an absolute bargain at $11.00.

#5.  Cazuela de frijoles, bean stew.  Another iconic Colombian dish.  I'll let AI describe it: "Hearty red bean stew loaded with crispy pork belly, Colombian chorizo, and sweet plantains. Served with avocado and topped with shoestring potatoes for the perfect crunch."

I found an amazing lunch place just two blocks away.  They have a fixed menú del día, with a different option each day of the week.  A cazuela de frijoles would easily cost 40,000 pesos ($11) elsewhere, but here it was 9,900 ($2.70).  I have a new fave lunch place!

#6. Ajiaco.  Yep, of the holy trinity (so far bandeja paisa, cazuela de frijoles) comes number three, chicken soup.  How a country built its entire culinary reputation (such as it is) on these three dishes is beyond me, but anyways, this was delicious, the broth thick and chicken-y, the potatoes cooked to have just a bit of a bite, and the more-than-generous quantity of chicken bits tender.

To eat it properly you have to add the avocado and rice, then swirl in a bit of cream.

This was the "medio," half, and I could barely finish it (sorry, rice!) $6.40 + $2.13 for a strawberry shake.  Yum!