Travel: Comida Colombiano

Lunch, or almuerzo, is an essential part of the Colombian lifestyle. It is the main meal of the day and one that is shared with friends or family.  Most restaurants will serve a ‘Menu del Dia’, or menu of the day, which varies slightly from region to region.

The basic ‘Menu del Dia’ is cheap Colombian fare costing around A$3 and consists of two courses. The first course being a soup course and the second being a plate with a mixture of meat, vegetables and/or salad, a Colombian version of meat and veg.

The soup course is generally only one soup, with some restaurants giving you a second option, which will vary from day to day.  The main varieties I have seen include meat, vegetable, rice, potato and banana, but there are many variations around the country. These soups are very hearty and filling, and I often find I am full from soup before the second course even arrives.

For the second course you can choose from beef (carne), pork (cerdo), chicken (pollo), or chicken breast (pechuga), although some areas will serve trout, and you are generally given the option of how you would like it cooked. Alongside the meat you are generally given a combination of rice, salad, plantain, and either another vegetable, salad, or bean dish.

My favourite ‘Menu del Dia’ I have experienced is in Medellin, Antioquia.  Here you are still provided the same two-course meal, but the second course varies slightly from those I have eaten in other areas and is known to Colombians as ‘Bandeja Paisa’. In this course your have your meat with red kidney beans, rice, salad, plantain, yuca, a fried egg, but most importantly pork crackling (which includes a good chunk of attached meat and fat) that makes it the king of the ‘Menu del Dias’.

While many Colombian restaurants are trying to find their own identity, through fusion, I still find the basic ‘Menu del Dia’ a comforting, fulfilling meal that is the basis of the Colombian day, and immensely enjoyable to partake in.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Natalie Manning for writing this guest post. You can follow Natalie on Twitter at www.twitter.com/starrnat