Food & Drink

Colombian cuisine is down-to-earth, hearty, and regionally extremely diverse. Each region has its own specialties, ingredients, and traditions. Forget everything you think you know about "Latin American food" — Colombia is a culinary continent of its own.

The Classics

★★★ Bandeja Paisa

The national dish of Colombia and a plate of superlatives. Served on a tray (Bandeja): red beans, white rice, Chicharrón (crispy pork belly), Chorizo, fried beef (carne molida), fried egg, Arepa, sweet plantain (plátano maduro), and avocado. Sounds like too much? It is. But that's the point: Bandeja Paisa was the dish of coffee workers who toiled all day in the fields.

Price: 12,000–25,000 COP (3–6€). Best enjoyed in the coffee zone or in Medellín.

★★★ Ajiaco

Bogotá's signature dish: a thick, creamy potato soup made from three different types of potatoes (Colombia has over 30 potato varieties!), chicken, corn on the cob, and the herb Guascas, which gives the soup its distinctive flavor. Served with avocado, cream, capers, and rice. The perfect comfort food for cool Bogotá evenings.

★★★ Arepas

The Arepa is the Colombian bread — a corn cake eaten with every meal. There are hundreds of varieties:

• Arepa de queso: Filled with cheese, the standard version. Enjoyed in the morning for breakfast.
• Arepa de huevo: Fried, with a whole egg inside! A specialty of the Caribbean coast. Brilliant as street food.
• Arepa de choclo: Made from sweet corn, with cheese. Sweet-salty perfection.
• Arepa boyacense: From Boyacá, sweet, with Panela (cane sugar) and Queso. Available everywhere on the road to Villa de Leyva.

★★ Empanadas

Colombian empanadas are smaller than the Argentine ones and always fried (not baked). The corn dough encloses a filling of potato and meat or potato and egg. Served with Ají (spicy salsa made from coriander, tomatoes, and chili). Available everywhere on the street: 1,000–3,000 COP (0.25–0.70€). The perfect snack food.

★★ Sancocho

The Colombian wonder soup: a thick stew made from chicken (or fish, beef, depending on the region), cassava, plantain, potato, corn, and coriander. Every region has its version: Sancocho de gallina (hen) is the classic, Sancocho de pescado on the coast. The ultimate hangover breakfast after a night of partying.

★★ Lechona

The Colombian answer to roast suckling pig: a whole pig stuffed with rice, peas, and spices, roasted in the oven for hours. The skin is crispy like chips, the meat juicy and flavorful. Mainly found in Tolima (around Ibagué and Neiva), but available at every festival and market throughout the country.

Coffee — The National Drink

Colombia produces the third most coffee in the world, but the drinking experience in the country is paradoxical:

• Tinto: The standard coffee. A small, often very sweet black coffee, sold everywhere for 500–2,000 COP (0.10–0.50€) — on the street, on the bus, in offices. Quality: often mediocre, but a social ritual.
• Café de origen / Café especial: In the growing specialty coffee bars of the big cities, you can get excellent single-origin coffee, pour-over, Chemex, cold brew. Price: 5,000–12,000 COP (1.20–3€). Bogotá, Medellín, and the coffee zone have excellent cafés.

Jugos Naturales (Fruit Juices)

Colombia is a fruit paradise, and the fresh juices are among the best the country has to offer culinarily. Order "en agua" (with water) or "en leche" (with milk). Many fruits are unknown in Europe:

• Lulo: Sour-refreshing, the most popular fruit in Colombia. As juice, ice cream, or cocktail.
• Maracuyá (Passion Fruit): Intense, sweet-sour. In juices, desserts, and as an Aguardiente cocktail.
• Guanábana (Soursop): Creamy, sweet, unlike anything else in the world. Best as a smoothie with milk.
• Mango: Colombian mangoes are incredible. On the roadside for 1,000 COP, sliced with salt and lime.
• Borojó: The "wonder fruit" of the Pacific — supposedly aphrodisiac. Extremely nutritious.

Aguardiente — The Nation's Spirit

Aguardiente (literally: "firewater") is Colombia's national spirit: an anise-flavored brandy with 24–29% alcohol, crystal clear, sweetish, with a distinct licorice taste. Each department has its own brand: Antioqueño (Medellín), Néctar (Boyacá), Llanero (Llanos).

Aguardiente is drunk neat and ice-cold in small shot glasses — "shot por shot". At every party, in every bar, on every occasion. The rule: If you're invited, you can't refuse (at least not the first one). Insider tip: Aguardiente mixed with Lulo juice makes the perfect cocktail.

Beer

Colombia's beer landscape is dominated by two brands:

• Club Colombia (Dorada): The premium lager. Decent, slightly malty. In restaurants from 5,000 COP (1.20€).
• Águila: The people's beer. Lighter, cheaper, ubiquitous. Ice-cold from the bottle on the beach — perfect.
• Poker: Even cheaper, more for mass consumption.
• Craft Beer: The craft beer scene is booming in Bogotá and Medellín. Bogotá Beer Company (BBC), 3 Cordilleras (Medellín), and Cervecería Libre are the stars.