country Essentials · 13 foods
Colombia Essentials
A considered first route through Colombia: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Colombia foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
13 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Medellín, Colombia
Bandeja Paisa
Antioquia's mountain platter: beans, rice, ground beef, chicharrón, fried egg, avocado, plantain and arepa on one tray.
Bogotá, Colombia
Ajiaco Santafereño
Bogotá's chicken-and-three-potato soup perfumed with guascas, finished with cream, capers and avocado.
Colombia
Sancocho
The Sunday stew of meat, plantain, yuca and corn that gathers extended families around one pot.
Colombia
Lechona
Whole roasted pig stuffed with rice, peas and pork — the centerpiece of Tolima celebrations, sold by the portion.
Colombia
Arepa
The daily griddled corn cake that accompanies every meal, split and filled with cheese or egg.
Colombia
Empanadas Colombianas
Crisp yellow-corn turnovers dipped in ají, sold from carts on every corner.
Colombia
Tamales Colombianos
Banana-leaf parcels of corn dough, pork and chicken unwrapped at weekend breakfasts.
Colombia
Café Tinto
Small black coffee poured from street thermoses, the everyday ritual of the world's third-largest producer.
Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Pandebono
Warm cassava-starch cheese bread from Valle bakeries, best straight from the oven with hot chocolate.
Colombia
Buñuelos Colombianos
Golden cheese fritters with a chewy crumb, the smell of December bakeries and year-round oncerías.
Colombia
Natilla
Sliceable panela-cinnamon custard that shares every Christmas plate with buñuelos.
Bogotá, Colombia
Chocolate Santafereño
Hot chocolate with a slab of queso melting inside, dunked with almojábana — the Bogotá breakfast ritual.
Colombia
Arepa de Choclo
Griddled sweet-corn arepa folded around melting cheese, the paisa roadside classic.