Food

My immune system finally succumbed to whatever was going around, so I haven’t done much this week besides lay in bed and send Alex on ice cream errands. I am on the upswing now and thought I would share some food photos. I stop short of calling it food porn because I have not quite perfected the art of taking pictures of food, mainly because I’m too eager to eat it. But these will at least give you an idea 🙂

We have had an interesting food journey since we entered Colombia. While the traditional food in this area is not our cup of tea, we have eaten in some excellent restaurants and have whipped up some interesting meals in our little kitchenette, as well.

Colombian Cuisine

In our search for “traditional” Colombia cuisine, we have found ourselves generally underwhelmed. The “bandeja paisas” are ubiquitous here (‘bandeja’ means ‘platter’ and ‘paisa’ is the region in Colombia we are in). So it is known as the Paisa Platter. These plates always include a meat (sometimes fried), rice, a fried plantain slice, a tiny iceberg salad, and a soup or beans. They are very protein heavy with little seasoning and few vegetables. The soups or beans are usually the best part. They are sometimes served with arepas, which people seem to LOVE here but I just can’t get myself to like them! They are basically super thick corn tortillas that are sometimes stuffed with something or served on the side in miniature form.

The last photo below is called ‘migas’ and is crumbled arepas fried in a pan with some onion, tomatoes, and a few dashes of soy sauce. This breakfast was made for me by the cook at a hostel in the coffee country and it is still the best local meal I have had since we arrived! I think it was also made with love.

Restaurants

It is so cheap to eat out here, we find ourselves going out for dinner way more often than we would have back home. Our neighborhood and the surrounding area is full of restaurants and we have definitely found some favorites. The first picture below is a little Mexican restaurant down the street from our apartment. It is run out of the home of a super sweet family. When I asked to use the restroom, they walked me into their home and into a bathroom with a family’s worth of toothbrushes and toiletries scattered around. I also got to meet their dogs, Frida and Tequila 🙂

We have been to several other restaurants and had some really nice meals, but I am usually too close to hangry to remember to take a photo.

Home Cooking

We managed to secure an apartment through our school with a small kitchenette and big balcony overlooking the street. We enjoy being able to keep some groceries and cook. When we first arrived and were still getting the lay of the land, we made some interesting grocery purchases that led to one of the weirdest meals we have ever made together. We dined on tiny sausages, a can of beans, sauteed onions, bread, and mustard. Since then, we found a bigger grocery store and have upped our game a bit. Tonight, we are cooking salmon!

Bonus school photo!