Start discovering Colombia with its street food
Whether you’re in a big city or a small town, you’ll always find a street food stand on a street corner. In Colombia, this is called « ambulante« . This is where you’ll discover Colombia’s best-selling dish,arepa. You’ll be able to try it in all its forms, with white or yellow corn flour. This is a mixture of corn flour, water and salt(masa). The arepa is then shaped by hand and flattened in a plastic sheet with the underside of a pan or something flat.
Flickr – william.neuheisel
The bread is then served either fried or baked. It’s less light, but much better fried. It can be served with chorizo (regional sausage), morcilla (black pudding) or a meat skewer. You can also find grilled corn, or patacones de « platanos » (green bananas).
Flickr – PincasPhoto
Arepa is a staple of Colombian cuisine, and is also served at breakfast(desayuno) with tinto (black coffee).
Then, they can be filled with an egg(arepa con huevo) as on the Caribbean coast. You can add minced meat, crumbled chicken, etc. There’s a breakfast variation with queso costeño (dried cow’s milk cheese from the coast) served with hot chocolate. Fish soups and fried fish are also served on the beaches around Barranquilla and Santa Marta.
Flickr – stu_spivack
Another dish served in Colombia is called an empanada, made from corn flour much like arepas, and stuffed with potatoes and meat, as in Bogotá. In Medellín, they are stuffed with chorizo. They are then fried and served with Aji (a garnish made from onion, tomato, chili pepper, olive oil and cilentro – coriander).
Flickr – mmmyoso
There are manystreet vendors selling perros calientes (hots dogs) and hamburgesas, which are not really Colombian but served generously with more Colombian fillings such as French papas (French fries), beans, corn, green salad, pickles, etc. Chicharon, tamales and many other regional dishes are also sold.
Flickr – marcotruiz
Last but not least, there are the vendors of sweet treats such as diced pineapple, mango with lime and salt or pepper. Mangoes are also served with sweetened condensed milk. There are fresh fruit salpicons (fresh fruit salad with watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, etc.), and street vendors are the best ambassadors to introduce you to carambole, tomate de arbol, guarambola and lulo, as well as fruit juices and granizados (on the Caribbean coast). The latter is fresh fruit juice poured over crushed ice.
Wikimedia – C arango
This article was written by Dominique Bauche of the blog