Bursting with flavour: How Colombian cuisine is deliciously complex like its history
Condensed milk, fruit and ice anyone? Discover the many soups and drinks…
So much more than coffee – it is impossible to define the cuisine of Colombia with just one phrase. To understand the food of Colombia, you must travel it, explore every region and taste your way through mountains, valleys, fog, forests and markets. Colombian author Mariana Velasquez had written these words in her book, Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and rituals from the soul of Colombia.
The cuisine is deliciously complex, just like the history of the country. There is an astounding number of dishes that can emerge from the wide range of meats, fruits and vegetables. Each region has something to offer. In the Colombian Amazon, you can be treated to recipes with freshwater fish like the gamitana rellena, explains Anna Perdomo, a UAE-based Colombian journalist, who also owns a restaurant in Colombia. It’s a huge fish stuffed with tomato, onion and other mouth-watering spices, covered with banana leaves and baked over low heat. The Caribbean coast will make your tastebuds tingle with seafood and patacon, a crunchy green plantain. These basic dishes are all made with fresh fish and shellfish.
In the Andean region, you’ll find dishes made from rice, corn, potato, tapioca, chicken, and beef, says Eliana Cortes, Chef De Cuisine, Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort. “In the Amazon region, which is located in the south of the country, presents exotic ingredients such as: turtle eggs, boa, fish typical of the region, bananas, and exotic fruits,” she adds.
A tale as old as time…
Food of a country always tells a story, and Colombia has reams to share.
In 1500 AD, the inhabitants, living on the Caribbean coast, which is largely the northern part of Colombia, were primarily hunters and pickers. They lived on roots, deer and large rodents. Reptiles, insects, and eggs were an intrinsic part of their diet. “They were great foragers of all kinds of fruits and vegetables,” explains Cortes.
The Spanish colonisers arrived by the third decade of the 16th century, but it wasn’t an easy triumph.
Within the first few months itself, most of them suffered from starvation, according to Antonio Montano, in his book, The Taste of Colombiana. The climate was hostile, and they were at war with the locals. Nothing in this environment was familiar to them. Their list of food items that they were familiar with was woefully short in these lands. They didn’t know anything about yam, sweet potatoes, and pineapples. Nothing seemed appetising for them. They had enough gold, but could not purchase anything with it. They resorted to raiding villages for provisions. Military expeditions were conducted deep into the interiors of modern day Colombia, to unearth the agricultural treasures of the lands. They had to contend themselves with fruits, which included the Lulos, a round soft fruit covered with thorns, and the curuba which was both acidic and sweet. Many Spanish died on this quest. They were plagued by mosquitoes, snake bites, and faced resistance in the form of poisoned arrows from the locals. Three-fourth of the troops died from dehydration, as they traversed dark jungles, swept by cold winds, succumbing to starvation.
The Spanish colonisers were struggling with this unfamiliar country; they had to eat corn, cassava and fruits. Apparently, food was so scarce that conquistador Gaspar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was ready to eat his own companions, ‘the one who was going to die the soonest’. Slowly, the Spanish began to establish settlements. More than soldiers, their ships brought livestock and chickens, which led to new additions in the diet.
By the mid-16th century, the later conquerors had blessed foresight and arrived with fruit seeds. And so, the oranges, lemons and tangerines that had been brought to Spain, began to grow in America. Eggplants were also introduced.
After the arrival of the Spanish, newer food items were introduced, including beef, rice, onions, garlic and many other food. At the time, varieties of fruits were not available in Columbia. There was now an influx of new culinary customs. “For example, marinating meat, which is so typical in Spanish gastronomy both today and in the past, or frying, a cooking method was not used locally until then,” adds Cortes.
Absorbing the flavours of history
The Africans were staff sent by the Spanish, to replace a majority of the indigenous labour that had been wiped out by disease and hunger, according to Montano. The Africans brought their own knowledge and skills required in a tropical environment. They were able to eat the roots and the sprouts that the Spaniards rejected. Moreover, they understood the landscape. They knew which fruit could yield oil. Many of the Africans found habitation deep in the forests, away from the brutality of the colonisers. They planted pineapples, papayas, avocados, dry-land rice and Cassava. Maintaining their identity, they began to blend both the African and American flavours in their diet.
By the 18th century, Spanish ships sailing to Cartagena had all the food items that couldn’t be found in America, including olive oil, olives and wine. Cartagena now had ‘taverns’ that served Valencia-style rice dishes, along with a sumptuous variety of fruits, including papayas, green mangoes, and watermelons.
Marinating meat, which is so typical in Spanish gastronomy both today and in the past, or frying, a cooking method was not used locally until their arrival
Different immigrant populations started settling on the coast of Colombia, by the 20th century. Each of them brought their own culinary requirements. What followed was a process of modification, and reinvention of customs. The Arab, German and Italian influences began to spread. There was a blend of varying culinary influences---pasta became a part of the diet, and sausages became a regular feature.
The cuisine has now gone beyond just being a mix of Spanish, African and American. Colombian cuisine has now absorbed the flavours of its history.
The flavours of Colombian cuisine
Soups, arepas and empanadas are unifying factors for Colombians, writes Mariana Velasquez in her book Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and rituals from the soul of Colombia. It might be a simplification, but for those keen on learning about the Colombian gastronomy, it’s a start.
For Cortes, warm soups with creamy potato during winters in Bogota, are a fond childhood memory. She remembers watching her grandmother cooking on the fire outside their home. “I always enjoyed eating ajaico (a thick soup) with her. It used to be so cold, but we loved those soups, stews, which had different kinds of potatoes,” recalls Cortes with relish. It’s the simplicity of the spices and the fidelity to flavours that makes Columbian food so unique, she adds.
Perdomo complements this point, and says that soups are an essential part of the Colombian meal. “The first soup I learned to cook was ‘ajiaco bogotano’, which contains chicken, either full or shredded, and potatoes criolla, pastusa, and sabanera, corn on the cob, and optionally capers and cream,” she explains.
There are variations of soups and stews everywhere in Colombia. On the northern coast, they make a coconut-based soup with fish, corn potatoes and yams. In the valley of the Cauca river, you’ll find a delicious soup, made by cooking chicken, beef ribs, plantains and potatoes with a hint of lime. However, in the Antioquian región - there’s a dramatic twist. You won’t find fish. Instead, you’ll find trotters in a red bean soup, accompanied by white rice.
There are the most traditional soups like ‘ajiaco satafereño’ from the capital of the country, ‘el mute santandereano’ from the Colombian East, or ‘mondongo’ an exquisite soup from the Cundiboyacense region, says Perdomo. Ajiaco satafereño is a thick soup, which can be made with chicken and a variety of potatoes. El mute santandereano is filled with vegetables, meat and pasta. Mondongo is a soup made from diced tripe, and slow-cooked with vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, carrots and cabbage. Abu Dhabi-based Colombian national, Nathalia Toro Sachs, a clinical hypnotist and mind coach suggests carimanola, which is a meat pie in a torpedo-shaped yuca fritter, stuffed with cheese and shredded chicken. “There’s also the bollo de yucca (a bun made from corn yucca or potato), and a soup with different kinds of vegetables and meat, which is found along the Caribbean coast,” she adds.
On the other hand, arepas, which have the appearance of a simple tortilla, are characterised by their circular shape. “It has the ability to adapt to any palate. It is so versatile and simple that it can be perfectly combined,” explains Cortes. There are 43 varieties of arepas, adds Perdomo. It can be filled with cheese, meat, lamb, shrimp, avocado, chicken and many other ingredients.
You can enjoy, patacon, ajiaco, arepas, tamales, empanadas, seafood casserole, fried fish, and cassava bread, to name a few, says Cortes. The bandeja paisa, one of the most popular courses, is a main meal composed of nine ingredients such as beans, ground beef, egg, chorizo, avocado, arepa and banana.
The exotic fruits of Colombia
In Colombia, even the fruits wield a power of their own and add to the dancing flavours of Colombian cuisine. In fact, there are over 400 varieties of fruits, most of which are exotic, says Perdomo. You’ll be hard-pressed to find them anywhere else. There’s the Maracuya (a passion fruit), the gulupa, a source of Vitamin C, and the golden berries called uchuva. And, you also have the tough Zapote, which helps gastritis and the vibrantly coloured pitaya (dragon fruit).
Apart from health benefits, these fruits also make for special drinks. “Lulada, for instance, is a very popular drink characterised by mixing the fruit called ‘lulo’ with condensed milk and ice,” she says. Another popular drink is the salpicón. “It’s a delicious mixture of fruits such as pineapple, mango, patilla, apple, banana, pear, and others, and tropical flavor juice made from papaya, which is accompanied with ice, ice cream and cheese, in its most complete version,” she elaborates.
How different is it from Mexican cuisine?
While there are strong differences between Mexican and Colombian cuisine, there also similarities between them.
“We share essential products and flavours such as, beans, corn, cilantro amongst others,” says Cortes adding that there is also a similarity in the consumption of chili peppers, avocado or guacamole and tomato, onion and coriander mincemeat or pico de gallo.
“Mexican cuisine tends to use other varieties of chilles that are not so evident in Colombian cuisine,” she adds.
Colombian food on the global culinary scene
There’s a transformation taking place in Colombian cuisine right now, observes Cortes. “We are bent on rescuing, protecting, discovering, rediscovering, recreating,” she says. Colombians are now finding new opportunities abroad, which has led to an extensive reach of the cuisine. “I believe that we are in the process of making ourselves known to the world,” says Cortes. She is pleased to see that customers are willing to try new flavours in her restaurant, in the UAE. “The feedback has been positive. They are used to completely different things, but it is fascinating to see how they are adapting to Colombian cuisine,” she adds.