viernes, 4 de octubre de 2013

Typical Colombian Main Meals & Dishes


Changua: Breakfast in the Andean Mountains normally consists of this creamy soup made with milk, water, eggs, and scallions. The eggs are dropped into the mixture without breaking the yolks. It is served with cilantro and a piece of (stale) bread that soaks in the mixture.





 Ajiaco: Chicken soup like mom used to make it. It includes chicken, two (preferably three) kinds of potatoes, corn, sour cream, capers, avocado and guasca. Guasca is a special herb that grown throughout the Americas and gives the soup its distinct flavour.






Buñuelos: Are popular ball shaped fritters and eaten as a snack in many South American countries. The Colombian version is made with dough of curd of white cheese that get fried until golden brown. It is a typical Christmas dish in Colombia.









Empanadas: It is a stuffed pastry that can either be sweet or savory. The savory Colombian empanadas are filled with beef, chicken and/or cheese as well as with rice and coriander. Compared to the Chilean or Argentinean empanadas they are not baked but fried.







The Bogota Cuisine has a lot influence of the native’s food, specially the Muiscas, and some European traditions which have been part of the local gastronomy. Bogota is located on the Andean Region of Colombia, so the most representative ingredients are potatoes, yucca, meat, corn, rice, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chicken, pork and fish.

In Bogota hot drinks are very important because of the cold weather, especially at morning, afternoons and nights. Families used to meet for eating in the dining room. People eat their meals and always have different juices with the dishes.

The most representative dishes of Bogota’s cuisine are:

Chocolate Santafereño
  • CHOCOLATE SANTAFEREÑO: To enjoy this delicious hot drink you can dip the bread and cheese into your cup to get a perfect mix between salt and sweet.
  • TAMAL: This is a kind of cake made with corn flour and covered with plantain leaves. In the mass, there are pieces of chicken, carrots, peas and pork. It usually is served at breakfast and hot chocolate is a good company.
  • FRITANGA: It is a very popular dish prepared with potatoes, fried plantain, and different kinds of meat pieces. It’s perfect for parties or night meetings.
  • PAPAS CHORREADAS: This is a delicious dish to complement meats and white rice. There are potatoes cocked with onions, tomatoes, garlic and salt. Then it is covered by milk and it is served.
  • TRES LECHES: It is a delicious dessert full of sweet cream but with a perfect taste.
  • JUICES: There are juicies made of blackberry, mango, lulo, maracuya, pineapple, guanabana, curuba, borojó, apple, strawberry, orange, mandarin, guava, pear, lemon, peach and any other kind of fruit that you could find in Colombia.
  • MASATO: It’s a fermented drink of indigenous origin. It could be prepared with rice or corn. It’s ideal to complement other types of food like Almojábanas, Empanadas or Pandebonos.
  • TINTO: It’s black coffe. People used to drink it in their breakfast or after lunch because it is a digestive drink.





SLOW FOOD


Why the name Slow Food?

It’s an ironic way of saying no to fast food.
This resistance movement was born in the north part of Italy in 1986 and it’s created by Carlo Petrini in response to the opening of a McDonald's in the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. It’s a nonprofit organization. Slow Food now counts members in more than 50 countries.

Why the snail symbol?

The snail was chosen because it moves slowly and calmly eats its way through life.

The Slow Food movement promotes methods that have a low impact on the environment and reducing the use of pesticides with organic techniques agriculture, besides, it works to ensure that they are “good, clean and fair”. This movement is against to the genetically modified organisms


What is Slow Food’s position on meat consumption?

Slow Food believes that responsible meat consumption means eating less meat, only eating meat from animals that have been raised with a high quality of life and paying a fair price for meat.