my travels in colombia
I don’t know where to start.
That’s my excuse, anyway. I returned from Colombia around one month ago, and it took me far too long to upload this post. So, when I say “I don’t know where to start”, I’m using that statement primarily to excuse my tardiness.
But there’s a ring of truth to it. Because I really don’t know where to start. I could start with the scenery— the beautiful rolling hills of Antioquia; the vivid blue water surrounding Pablo Escobar’s dilapidated mansion; the almost militaristic intensity with which the rain torrents downward and fills the streets of Cartagena, as if God forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer before mom got home and he’s now frantically filling up a bowl with warm water to start the defrosting process.
I could start with the buildings— their colors so much more vivid than the grey New York skyscrapers; the Colombian indigenous homes or Spanish colonialist churches or Hilton modernist hotels.
I could start with the people, certianly, and this is where a better writer would start— their joy; their prioritization of familial loyalty; their day-to-day existence.
Or, I could start with self-awareness, a twinge of traveler’s guilt— an acknowledgement of the fact that, despite my attempts at romanticization, Colombia is a normal place like any other; a place with grocery stores; and people living their lives; and political drama; and a wealth gap; and English professors who could correct the grammatical errors of this introduction (my liberal use of the semicolon probably won’t win me any literary awards).
But I will not start with those things. I don’t think I’m skilled enough to distill, for this blog, the emotional component of my experience witnessing Colombia. So I will stick to what I know. I will stick to the food.
Uno: Empanada
A Colombian Classic.
De Grocery Store
It was late, I was hungry, and so I asked Nic and her family to take me to get some authentic Colombian food. They accomodated me graciously, but they warned me they weren’t really taking me anywhere authentic. It was a grocery store, like any other, with empanadas served in the back deli. Were they delicious? Absolutely. Were they the best empanadas I’d ever eaten? Of course not. (Does Price Chopper have the best pizza in America?)
Dough: 7/10
Filling: 6.9/10
Overall: 6.9/10
De Cafe
The village of historical Cartegena is a beautifully preserved Spanish colonial town, with the key development being that, now, all of the buildings are occupied by modern cafes, restaurants, boutiques, and ice cream shops. We stopped at one of these cafes for a quick bite, and I purchased a chicken & raisin empanada. I know- raisins? Yes. And they were phenomenal. A fantastic empanada.
Dough: 7/10
Chicken: 7.5/10
Raisin: 9/10
Ingredient combination: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
Dos: Arepas
This is one of the most important pieces of Colombian food. If you’re having trouble grasping it from the photos, think of a thicker, less flexible tortilla. First, I’ll review the different types of Arepa I tried, and then I’ll go through a couple of meals which included Arepas.
Regular Arepa
It’s my fault, and completely a palate thing, but I just don’t enjoy plain Arepas that much. I totally see the appeal— they’ve got a really nice texture, and do provide a good meal complement. Just not my cup of tea.
Arepa con Choclo
Now this is something I am 100% behind. Choclo is a cheese-adjacent ingredient, and for the purposes of being melted inside an Arepa, it tastes and acts just like cheese. I know, I know— it’s incredibly American of me to prefer the version of an authentic dish that’s been filled with melted cheese.
Big platter of Colombian meats
The restaurant in question overlooked all of Medellin, and it was gorgeous. The lights of the city blanket the mountains like a quilt on an infant.
The platter had marinated chicken, marinated beef, marinated pork, blood sausage, regular sausage, chicharon, and Arepa. The marinated meats were very tender and juicy, and this was accompanied by very satisfying seasonings. The chicken was sweet, the beef was smoky, and the pork was salty. All were good, but if I was being critical, I would say the pork was the lesser of the three. The blood sausage was good, but I’m not a great judge of blood sausage (I’ve never been a fan). The regular sausage was spicy and incredible (definitely the high point of the dish). I sadly did not try the chicharon. The Arepa, when paired with the beef or sausage, made for a very useful spice delivery method— the texture was a little dry, but the Arepa itself was decent.
Marinated chicken: 8/10
Marinated beef: 8.5/10
Marinated pork: 7/10
Blood sausage: 7/10
Regular sausage: 9/10
Arepa: 7/10
Overall: 8.5/10
2. Catered pork and rice dish at a party
When you’re at an absolutely bustling family party in a Colombian country home, a crew of serious-looking workers hauls in a pre-cooked whole pig (head, hooves, and all!), and you’re so hungry you could probably eat the entire animal— that’s when you attain a moment of nirvana. When the cooks sliced into the tender pork and began to mix the meat with the rice, the smell had me and my table-mates salivating. Colombia has, as you’ll see in this post, a lot of perfectly tender pork, chicken, and beef. This was no different. The rice itself was solid, nothing special— but when mixed with the pork, it was phenomenal. The arepa was pretty average, but made for a good scooper tool.
Pork taste: 7/10
Pork texture: 9/10
Rice: 7/10
Arepa: 6.5/10
Overall: 8.3/10
3. Chuzo De Pollo (Chicken skewer)
This restaurant was situated on a vibrantly-lit street corner in a small suburb. I ordered a chicken skewer, salad, Arepa con Choclo, and potato. Similar to the previous entry, the chicken was very tender and juicy. The flavors were also similar to those of the platter. A very good chicken skewer. The salad was not really a salad, just some lettuce and tomato. The potato was a little dry, but incredibly spiced. The Arepa was by far the best Arepa I ate on the trip— the dough was fluffy, the Choclo was yummy, and it was, most importantly, nice and wide (improvised tacos were in order).
Chicken: 9/10
Potato: 7.5/10
Salad: 5/10
Arepa: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Tres: Homecooked meals
If someone brings you into their home, and cooks you food, always, always, always eat it. Always. That’s my rule, and it’s served me well. Luckily, I didn’t need any further motivation to eat the home cooked food, because it was all fantastic. As one might expect in a Latin American country (or, come to think of it, in most countries), there was a lot of rice. There was also a lot of ground beef. The food, I noticed, was all flavored in a beautifully simple way. The cooks never overdid anything— there were just enough spices to compliment the base ingredients, but no more.
I don’t like to review home-cooked meals super in-depth (it feels disingenuous), so I’ll describe the dishes and give a photo.
Home cooked lunch #1
This was a dish of rice, avocado, ground beef, and arepa. The ground beef was slightly dryer than you would find in a midwestern U.S. dish (not in a bad way). The rice was fluffy and spiced.
2. Home cooked lunch #2 (soup, rice, and beef)
This was a bean and potato soup with a side of beef and rice. The soup had many well-placed ingredients, and wasn’t super thick. The beef and rice were very similar to the previous dish.
Quatro: Sweet street bites
It’s hot in Colombia, I have a sweet tooth, and there were plenty of vendors of fruity, cold treats who were able to fulfill my cravings.
A cup of frozen juice and ice
A classic, delicious treat. Tasted pretty much how you’d expect. I got one with mango and pineapple, and it was exactly what I wanted.
Fruit: 7/10
Juice: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
2. Bon Ice (Fruity ice pops)
Nic was super excited to show me this ice pop variety, and it was surprisingly good— better, I think, than the one I’d eat in the U.S.
Juice: 8/10
Melt-resistance: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
No pictures on either of these :/
Cinco: Foreign eats
In addition to eating Colombian food, we also ate Japanese food, Chinese food, Peruvian food, and Mediterranean food. I’ll briefly touch on each one.
A fancy Japanese restaurant in Cartagena
This meal was very reasonably priced and very high-quality. We ate salmon tartare with crispy wontons to start, and my main dish was a fantastic tuna fish with tempura veggies. The salmon tartare was the best tartare I’ve very had— the sauce was incredible stuff, the fish texture was perfect, and the wontons were great. The tuna was good, with a good sauce and a nice sear. The tempura veggies were pretty run-of-the- mill tempura.
Tartare sauce: 9/10
Salmon: 8/10
Wontons: 8/10
Tuna: 7.7/10
Tempura: 7.5/10
Overall: 8/10
2. A restaurant with self-professed “Asian Vibes”
This was a pretty standard and very nicely decorated Asian fusion restaurant. We ate fried balls of cheesy rice with a sweet sesame dressing to start, and then I moved on to Mongolian beef noodles. The sauce on the rice balls was really tasty, but the balls themselves were pretty average. The beef in my main dish was nicely tender and well-seasoned. The sauce on the dish was definitely the high point. The noodles were good, but I’d have liked for them to have a more intense flavor. Overall, a good lunch.
Fried rice ball dough: 8/10
Filling: 6.5/10
Rice ball sauce: 8.5/10
Beef: 8.5/10
Mongolian beef sauce: 8.5/10
Noodles: 6.9/10
Overall: 7.5/10
3. Peruvian food
This higher-end Peruvian restaurant had a very wide selection of meals. I got the house salad with salmon. It was pretty decent. The veggies were solid, and the salmon was good (but a little dry).
Veggies: 6.9/10
Salmon: 7.5/10
Dressing: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
No photo on this one.
4. A Mediterranean restaurant
Now this was a good meal. We started with a plate of hummus, Lebanese beef, and pita bread. The pita was fluffy and warm, which was welcome. The hummus was really great. And the beef was tender and delicious. Most importantly, when all scooped together for one bite, the flavors positively soared in my mouth. Our second course was a platter of classic Mediterranean/Lebanese selections. The beef was as good as the beef in the previous dish. The rice was very solid. The veggie/leaf roll (I forgot, sadly, the traditional name) tasted interesting, but was overall quite good. The beef/rice/leaf roll was slightly better than the veggie. This meal was very, very enjoyable.
Hummus: 9/10
Pita: 9/10
Beef: 8/10
Veggie roll: 7/10
Beef roll: 7.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
That’s all, folks. Smell ya later.