Welcome to Columbia! According to Google, Columbia has a population of 50.34 million people and the capital is Bogota. Their national dish is:
Bandeja Paisa!
Apparently "Paisa" refers to the Paisa region of Colombia and "bandeja" means "platter". That is pretty much what it was - a big platter of food! I think all together there were seven different elements. Let me tell you: this was a PROCESS to make! I had to enlist the help of Handsome Husband, or we would never get to eating. We did leave out the rice - it was just another element that we didn't think we needed. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to type it all up. The recipe we followed did a good job of walking you through it. I would recommend looking through it SEVERAL times before making it! Here's what we did:
CHICHARRONES
1 lb Skinless Pork Belly
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cumin
- Mix salt, sugar, and cumin, and rub evenly over pork belly. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Unwrap pork, place fat-side up on a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet (I covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil). Bake until golden and crispy, about 30 minutes.
- Lower temperature to 250 degrees.
- Cook pork belly an additional 1 hour and 15 minutes, until fork-tender.
- Cool pork belly to room temperature for about 45 minutes and then wrap in plastic and chill in fridge for an hour.
- Cut pork belly into 4 strips. Cut 3/4 of the way deep crosswise in 1 inch intervals.
- Heat skillet over medium heat, and cook pork until golden brown and crispy.
1/4 C Avocado Oil
2 Onions, chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 tbsp Sazon Seasoning
4 C Tomatos, chopped
8 Garlic Cloves, chopped
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Salt
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat
- Add onions, pepper, and sazon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes.
- Stir in tomatoes, garlic, cumin, and salt.
- Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes have broken down and thickened. (This took about 20 minutes.)
3/4 lb dried red beans
1 tbsp Avocado Oil
1/4 lb Skinless Pork Belly, cut into 1 inch peices
8 C Beef Broth
2 C Hogao (see recipe above)
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Salt
- Soak the beans overnight (I forgot to do this...so mine soaked 6 hours - it worked just fine).
- Drain the beans.
- Heat oil in large pot on medium low.
- Add pork belly and cook until browned. This took about 10 minutes.
- Stir in beans, broth, Hogao, cumin, and salt.
- Increase heat and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender (about 4 hours).
1 tbsp Avocado Oil
1 lb Ground Beef
1 C Hogao (see recipe above)
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cumin
- Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned.
- Stir in Hogao, salt, and cumin.
- Combine, stirring often, for about 2 minutes, or until completely heated through.
CHORIZO
Go to the store and get chorizo sausage links.
- Barbecue the chorizo links until they are done.
AREPAS
1 C White Corn Flour
1 C Mozzarella Cheese
1 C Warm Water
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Avocado Oil, divided
- Combine the corn flour, cheese, water, salt, and 1 tbsp of the oil.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until dough is smooth. (The recipe said it would be soupy, and then firm up. Mine was never soupy.)
- Let the dough stand for about 10 minutes.
- Shape dough into 4 balls.
- Flatten the balls into 1/2 inch-thick disk.
- Heat remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Cook arepas until golden brown and charred in spots, about 5 minutes per side.
TAJADAS DE PLANTANO
1 Plantain, peeled
1/4 C Avocado Oil
Salt, to taste
- Cut the plantain into diagonal, 1/2 inch-thick slices.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.
- Cook plantains until golden brown on each side (2-3 minutes per side).
- Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate, and sprinkle with salt to taste.
HUEVOS FRITOS
Fry four eggs, to your liking
To assemble everything, you can put it on a large platter, or do individual plates, like we did.
(Source: Bandeja Paisa Recipe | MyRecipes)
The verdict? This was a really, really good meal. It was such a challenge to cook, as there were so many different components. Timing was crazy: trying to figure out when to start everything. If I were to do it again, I would make the beans, pork belly, and carne molida early, and reheat them. That would have made life so much easier! But overall, it was a very fun meal to make, and a very tasty meal to eat! Also, I really didn't mind the plantains, which surprised me. I think because the plantains were more ripe than in previous recipes, and fried a little more. They still aren't my favorite, but I didn't want to throw up after eating them...
So the rating. We are all going to rate the dishes on a scale of 1-10.
ME
Taste of Chicharrones (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of Chicharrones (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
ME
Taste of Frijoles Rojos (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): NA
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): NA
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): NA
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of Frijoles Rojos (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 3
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
ME
Taste of Carne Molida (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of Carne Molida (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5
ME
Taste of Arepas (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 8
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of Arepas (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 9
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
ME
Taste of Tajadas De Plantano (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 4
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 2
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of Tajadas De Plantano (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7
Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7
Please note: we did not rate the Hoago, as it was an ingredient in some of the dishes, and did not stand alone. We did not rate the chorizo, as we literally just grilled something we got at the store. We did not rate the eggs because they were... just fried eggs.
So there you have it! Another (complicated) country down. We did really enjoy this food, and even said we need to go to South America just for their cuisine! We've enjoyed all meals we've had from South America so far! Join us next time in Gambia!
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