What to Eat in Colombia
A culinary checklist for Colombia: iconic bandeja paisa, Bogota's ajiaco soup, regional arepas, tropical fruits, and anise-flavored aguardiente.

[ ] Try Bandeja paisa
    The iconic farmer feast of Antioquia: a huge platter piled with stewed red beans, rice, minced beef, crispy pork belly (chicharrón), chorizo, fried egg, ripe plantain, avocado, and a plain white arepa. It was conceived to fuel long labor days in the coffee hills.
[ ] Try Ajiaco santafereño
    Bogota's signature soup, simmered with tender shredded chicken, corn cobs, and three varieties of native potatoes that dissolve into a velvety broth. It gets its unique earthy herbal fragrance from the native guasca herb, and arrives with capers, heavy cream, rice, and avocado.
[ ] Try Arepa de chóclo
    A thick, sweetish griddled pancake made from fresh sweet corn dough. It is charred on a roadside grill and topped immediately with a generous slab of salty, melty fresh farmer's cheese (queso campesino).
[ ] Try Arepa de huevo
    The Caribbean coast's crowning street food glory: a yellow corn cake is flash-fried, sliced open to receive a whole raw egg (and seasoned ground beef), sealed, and refried until golden and puffy.
[ ] Try Sancocho trifásico
    A soul-warming weekend stew boiled in vast pots with three meats: beef ribs, pork, and country chicken. The rich broth is loaded with substantial chunks of yuca root, green plantains, potatoes, and sweet corn on the cob.
[ ] Try Tamal tolimense
    A hearty banana-leaf package tied with string and steamed. It unrolls to reveal seasoned corn and rice dough filled with yellow peas, bone-in chicken, pork ribs, a boiled egg slice, and carrots spiced with cumin and scallions.
[ ] Try Lechona tolimense
    A whole roasted pig stuffed to the brim with seasoned yellow peas, rice, scallions, and pork meat. It slow-cooks in clay ovens for up to ten hours until the exterior skin turns into a blistered, glass-brittle crackling.
[ ] Try Pescado frito con arroz con coco
    Crisp whole fried red snapper or mojarra served with savory-sweet dark coconut rice, double-fried smashed green plantains (patacones), and a lime-dressed salad. The rice gets its amber color from caramelized coconut milk solids (*titoté*).
[ ] Try Mote de queso
    A creamy, comforting soup from the Caribbean plains made by boiling creamy white yams (*ñame*) down with firm, salty coastal cheese (*queso costeño*), garlic, and fried onions. The melted cheese turns deliciously chewy in the broth.
[ ] Try Changua
    An Andean morning soup crafted by simmering equal parts whole milk and water infused with scallions, cilantro, and salt, into which eggs are gently poached. Crisp stale rolls (*pan calao*) are broken right into the bowl.
[ ] Try Colombian corn empanadas
    Crunchy deep-fried hand pies made strictly from cornmeal dough, rather than wheat flour. They are packed with tender pulled beef or shredded chicken mixed with mashed spiced potatoes.
[ ] Try Pandebono
    Puffed, chewy cheese rolls baked from fermented yuca starch, corn flour, and fresh salty farmer's cheese. They boast a golden crust with a soft, delightfully elastic, cheesy interior.
[ ] Try Hormigas culonas
    A unique ancestral delicacy from the Santander region (Bucaramanga): large-bottomed queen leafcutter ants, toasted crisp in ceramic pans with sea salt. They offer a crunchy, savory texture reminiscent of salty bacon cracklings or smoky peanuts.
[ ] Try Obleas with arequipe
    Gigantic, paper-thin round wafers sandwiched together with rich *arequipe* (Colombian dulce de leche). Street vendors typically layer in tart blackberry sauce, grated salty cheese, or clotted cream to balance the sweetness.
[ ] Try Postre de natas
    An old-world colonial dessert from the Andes mountains created by repeatedly boiling unpasteurized milk, harvesting the thick skins (*natas*), and layering them in a rich syrup spiked with cinnamon, egg yolks, and rum-soaked raisins.
[ ] Order a Colombian fruit salad with cheese
    A towering bowl of freshly chopped tropical fruit (papaya, sweet mango, pineapple, and banana) drizzled with condensed milk, crowned with crema, and buried under a mountain of shredded salty white cheese.
[ ] Try Cholado
    A cooling sweet slushie originally from Jamundí near Cali. A tall plastic cup is packed with shaved ice, drenched in fruit syrups (passion fruit, blackberry), topped with fresh tropical chunks, condensed milk, and shredded coconut.
[ ] Order a Café tinto
    The everyday lifeblood of Colombia: a light-bodied black drip coffee served steaming hot in tiny cups from pushcart thermoses. It is brewed through cloth drippers and frequently sweetened with unrefined cane sugar (*panela*).
[ ] Drink Chocolate santafereño with cheese
    Dark drinking chocolate frothed in an aluminum pitcher using a wooden *molinillo* whisk, spiced with cinnamon and cloves. It is served with thick slices of fresh white cheese meant to be dropped directly into the piping mug to melt.
[ ] Try Fresh lulo juice
    A tart, energizing juice pressed from the native Andean *lulo* fruit (naranjilla), tasting like a brilliant cross between kiwi, green rhubarb, and pineapple. The pulpy green juice contains edible micro-seeds that give it a unique texture.
[ ] Try Aguapanela con limón
    A foundational beverage brewed by dissolving blocks of raw unrefined cane sugar (*panela*) in hot water, cut with freshly squeezed lime juice. It is served steaming hot in mountain valleys or over crushed ice along the coast.
[ ] Take a shot of Aguardiente
    Colombia's national spirit: a clear sugarcane liquor (24–29% ABV) infused with distinct aniseed flavor. It is downed neat in small shots (*copitas*) among friends, traditionally followed by a quick sip of water.
[ ] Sip Aged Colombian rum
    Aged dark rum distilled from virgin sugarcane honey and molasses, mellowed in charred American white oak casks for anywhere from 3 to 12 years. It reveals smooth vanilla, toffee, and toasted oak nuances.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-colombia