Bandeja Paisa: tasting COLOMBIA!

That’s right! We’ve escaped the winter in Chile for a while and flew to Colombia – we’re currently in Cartagena enjoying the Caribbean vibes, melting under the sun and, of course, eating our days away.

Behold the mighty Bandeja Paisa, a platter with what is a often referred to as “peasant food” – tasty, greasy, loaded with meats and carbs and, thus, very fulfilling. Only people who, like me, are too eager to try everything end up ordering such a dish on a day when the heat barely allows you to step outside the house. If you come to Colombia, be smart and order Bandeja Paisa when you are by the Andes and the weather requires such load of calories.

This typical dish from Colombia consists of red bean stew served with rice (there is a little mountain of white rice under the fried eggs in this photo, but it is also often served with coconut infused rice), ground meat, fried eggs, fried plantains (locally known as patacones and extremely common as a side for daily meals), chorizo, chicharron (or pork crackling in English, which is basically a cute way of saying “fried chunk of pork fat”), fried arepa (the local flat bread made with maize), salad and a generous portion of avocado.

Shakira says hips don’t lie in Colombia. But eating like this… they sure expand!