COLOMBIA-2nd. Part.

We are still in Colombia, enjoying the food and trying to be safe on the roads… DANGEROUS DRIVERS…


Genovesa cake in Pailitas Cesar.
Great piece of cake to deal with the stress… dealing with traffic in Colombia is either going to make us fat or thin… Just kidding.
I asked the employee at the bakery what item was the best or favourite and she said “Genovesa” but did not know what was in it… so we tried and it was wonderful. The baker came out later to let us know it was made with three different types of milk and that he could give us the recipe...

Papas rellenas.
This was fantastic. Brigida, the owner of this little street stand in Pailitas Cesar cooks excellent potatoes filled with rice, eggs, chicken and ground beef. A very reasonable price: $700 Colombian pesos.
She also offers Arepas de maiz (Corn Arepas) but filled with chicken or beef. Price: $1500 Colombian pesos/each. You can add the Colombian version of pico de gallo to your arepa; this is a salsa made out of tomatoes and onions with a little bit of vinegar, not spicy at all but tasty.
One papa rellena or one arepa is enough to calm your hunger.

"Papas rellenas"

"Arepa con pollo"

Thanks Brigida...

Salpicon.
This is so far the BEST thing we discover in Colombia, I love it. This is a fruit salad (normally bananas, pineapple, papaya and apples) with orange juice and sometimes cola or ice cream. Fruit is finely chopped and mix in a glass with the ingredients I mentioned. The price is $1500 Colombian pesos for a simple one, if you add ice cream then it costs $3000 Colombian pesos and so far the best one of this type we had was in San Gil, a beautiful town. At first I was afraid of trying this because it looked like it had water and water to me in warm climates means trouble but now I try every time our budget allows.
Salpicon is AWESOME!!!

"Simple salpicon"

"Salpicon with ice cream"

Tinto.
Wine? Absolutely not… In Colombia American coffee is known as Tinto. Coffee is great here, when they don’t add sugar to it… ahrrr…
You can find a coffee shot for $200 Colombian pesos on the street. People who sell this fantastic deal also offer cigarettes.

THE BEST MARKET EXPERIENCE EVER.
Jota was right. San Gil has a great market; people seem to be proud of what they do there. The market has different levels and meat is separated from vegetables, fruits and others, I love this because we don’t have to smell death.
I was really impressed with this market and happy to find few new things.

Pitahaya-$3000 Colombian pesos/lb. A pitahaya is the fruit of several cactus species, most importantly of the genus Hylocereus (sweet pitayas). These fruits are commonly known as dragon fruit. Other vernacular names are strawberry pear or nanettikafruit.

Annona-$1000 Colombian pesos/lb. – Annona or sugar-apple in English, has super-sweet white flesh inside. It’s closely related to the chirimoya. Annona is high in annonacin and may increase risk of Parkinson’s.
I personally did not enjoy it so much but I can see the potential, perhaps making juice out of it will be better.

Madroño- $1000 Colombian pesos/lb. Fruit resembles a bumpy lemon, with an interior like lemony cotton candy. Yellow, sometimes spotty fruit with a white-translucent pulp having an aromatic, acidic flavour. Country of origin: Costa Rica and Peru, so not sure if this was cultivated in Colombia but it does taste great.

Spicy tamales Colombianos-$2000/each. Believe it or not they were spicy, although Colombians do not typically eat spicy food. I was impressed… Brian and I had one for both or I may say I had a little bit of it… One of the best things of this tamal is the combination of corn mass and chickpeas in addition to pork meat.

Carne Oreada.
This typical meat is fantastic. It is some sort of beef jerky but in Santander (a State=Departamento of Colombia) they use beef or goat. The meat is seasoned, smoked with Arrayan tree and placed under the sun to dry with time and wind, it tastes AWESOME. Jota’s dad invited us for some of this meat with arepas de maiz.

Guarapo.
This is the typical drink that farmers will bring to work, so watch out in the streets of Colombia…
Guarapo is made from various fruits kept in a large ceramic jar and left to ferment for about 2 months. Within that time, panela (sugar) is added into the liquid to makes the alcohol stronger. Grapes and pineapple are typically used.
Worth to mention, by 10 am you can see tables full of alcoholic drinks… and by 4 pm farmers have had a gallon of guarapo.

The glass is full of "guarapo"

Bandeja Santanderiana.
In the State (Departamento) of Santander you will find wonderful things, from roads with NOT MANY VEHICLES to awesome food. This is one more example of a full meal that can be shared by two people.
This includes a soup of beef kidneys, pieces of leaver and hearts; it is called Sopa de picado. I did not particularly like it but Brian enjoyed it. After the soup you get a plate with meat, beans, rice, potatoes, yuca and salad.
All this for $7000 Colombian pesos, including coffee… it was actually too much for the both of us. It is possible that our stomachs are getting smaller…

Memories.
This is what we used to do in Vancouver, sit and have something before groceries shopping; sometimes a sandwich sometimes a sweet piece of cake.
This time we got a piece of chocolate cake with coffee for $6000 Colombian pesos, not cheap but necessary to reach happiness.

Crepes & Waffles.
Diego, our friend in Medellin told us about a place to have dinner, simple and economical. We visited Crepes & Waffles and I have to say he was right…
Good portions, good environment, good prices… good food!!!
We had some crepes: Pollo Curry Hindu ($14200 Colombian pesos) and Pollo Trufa Mexicana ($15700 Colombian pesos). Diego had a Mediterranean salad ($20500 Colombian pesos).
By the way, none of the food was actually spicy… but they tried.

Diego trying to smile...

You should see Brian's plate after... absolutely nothing left...

I love avocados...

On the top: thin slices of fried onions...