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Post by mich64 on Mar 4, 2022 22:54:06 GMT
I so enjoy market or food photos! These dishes reminded me very much of the delicious food when we were in Costa Rica. I remember many dishes with beans and rice at all times of the day as well.
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Post by bjd on Mar 5, 2022 6:28:04 GMT
I agree with Mark about the food in Colombia although most of the time we ate at "home". My consuegra made some of that soup with the chunk of corn cob in it -- it was okay. The fruit and fruit juices were really good. The bread is terrible -- soft white stuff that came in plastic bags. When we went to a beach (Palomino) as a large group, the food was prepared specially for us but the fish was barbecued into dryness.
My husband really likes arepas, and that's what he ate for breakfast in Cartagena -- running downstairs from the hotel and buying them off a cart. And at my consuegros' house in Taganga, the maid would prepare arepas for breakfast. I found that they don't taste of much, even when cheese is added to them.
I don't remember ever eating any of those heavy fried meat dishes, but when it's hot and humid it's not the best food. On the coast we usually ate fish.
But then, personally I am rather picky about food and usually lose weight when I go on vacation.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2022 11:21:32 GMT
Huevos pericos - scrambled eggs, scallions or green onions and tomatoes - Posta negra - contains beef, cooked in a dark sauce made with Cola, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, cumin and panela (local sugar) or brown sugar - Puchero Santafereño - stew that usually includes beef, chicken, pork, plantain, yuca, potatoes, corn, chorizo, and cabbage - Sancocho soup - can be oxtail but also most meats and often mixed meats - Sopa de mondongo - soup made from diced tripe slow-cooked with vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic or root vegetables - You don't tend to see too many potatoes. There are some what we would call normal potatoes but they tend to make use of a local variety called Papas criolla - "Papa criolla a potato variety that's native to South America and it's especially popular in Colombia. These tubers are small in size, similar to a golf ball. The flesh is yellow to dark yellow, an indication of high lutein and zeaxanthin content. The Colombian papas criollas grow wild in the highlands of the Andes."
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Post by casimira on Mar 5, 2022 15:07:05 GMT
Great pics of all the native dishes. So much food though!!! They certainly didn't skimp on portions.
Thanks again Mark for sharing these with us.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 5, 2022 15:55:18 GMT
Only the first photo automatically appeals to me even though I would have no trouble eating the others, but probably not the entire dish. I was lucky that the friend I visited in both Brazil and Guatemala is always happy to finish my plate because otherwise it could be embarrassing. Of course the last time I ate with him now that he is back in France, he had to do the same thing at a Thai restaurant.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2022 19:49:23 GMT
Juices are many and varied. I’ll just mention a list (extensive so you can just scan down). Many are served in milk, all in water if you prefer. You have to ask for no sugar if, like me, that is your preference. I always have them in water as I’m eating enough calories as it is - Guanabana – a dark green, prickly fruit called a Soursop in English. Mango. Lemonade. Papaya. Tomate de arbol – called Tamarillo or tree tomato in English. Lulo – also known as naranjilla (little orange) is a fruit with a green pulp with a distinctive tart, citrus flavor described as a cross between rhubarb and lime. Maracuya – also called passion fruit in English. This egg-shaped fruit is a sweet, seedy fruit that grows on a deeply rooted vine. The juice is slightly acidic and musty. Some people say this is the best juice in Colombia and my favourite. Pina – pineapple. Fresas – strawberries. Uva Magro – are a particular breed of berry/grapes known to Colombia, tastes like grape juice. Borojo – is a tropical fruit which makes a juice that is called “the love juice” in Colombia. It is also known as the Colombian Viagra for its aphrodisiac properties. The drink is commonly sold outside of the soccer stadiums. Uchuva – is a little round, yellow shiny fruit encased in a lantern paper like sack of inedible beige husk. It’s called a Cape Gooseberry in English and is related to the tomatillo. Banana - aka banana. Caramabola – is also known as star fruit. Curuba – is a relative of the passion fruit. The fruits are long and look like a banana with rounded ends. Feijoa -also called Pineapple Guava in English. The fruit has an elongated pear shape. Granadilla – in English known as ‘sugar fruit‘. Guyaba – guava. Nispero – it’s like a juicy kiwi but the interior is more like a papaya. Known in English as the Loquat. Pitaya – or dragon fruit, is a brightly coloured fruit similar to a melon or kiwi in flavour. Zapote (Sapote) – is one of Colombia’s toughest fruits. It grows fast, is wind and drought resistant, and able to grow in dry arid regions. It is a soft, edible fruit. It has a salmon colour and its texture is creamy and soft. The flavour is a mix of sweet potato and papaya. Aguacate - avocado. Manzano - apple. Pera - pear. Naranja - orange. Mandarina – mandarin. Mora – mixed berries. Sandia - watermelon. Chontaduro - palm fruit. Guama (the ice cream bean) tasty pod fruit only found in South America. Granada - pomegranate. Chirimoya (cherimoya) is an edible fruit native to South America. A green, cone-shaped fruit with scaly skin and a creamy sweet flesh, it is similar to the guanabana, the fruit is a little smaller. Madrono (Irish Strawberry Tree) – is a yellow, sometimes spotty fruit with a white-translucent pulp with an aromatic, acidic flavour. It looks like a lyche and tastes like a sour peach. Durazno - peach. Coco - coconut. Arazas – is a type of guayaba. It grows on a fruit tree native to the Amazon rainforest. It’s known as the fruit of seven flavours. Mamoncillo (Spanish lime) – Is a cross between a lychee and a lime. Mangostino – tropical evergreen tree with edible, purple fruit that is native to Southeast Asia where it is called ‘the fruit of the gods’. It is one of the rarest fruits in the world. In Colombia it is mainly produced in the department of Tolima. Ciruela (plum) – is grown in the mountains. Pinuela – shallot-shaped fruit that grows in the Cauca region of Colombia near the Pacific coast. It is peeled like a banana and has a tart taste. Caimito (star apple) – is a fruit found around Cartagena. It grows on very large trees. The purple or green skinned fruit has a sweet, white, juicy flesh with a mild grape flavour. Galupa – a passion fruit that grows on climbing vines with spectacular flowers. Higos - cactus flowers. Corozo – is a fruit grown in the Caribbean area of Colombia. It is small, round, reddish-purple fruit. Snacks on the go. Arepa - ground maize dough and fried - Arepa filled with an egg - Pandebono/pandeyuca. A bread made of cassava starch with cheese and eggs - Pan de queso. Same but filled with cream cheese or jam - My favourite. Papas de carne(meat)/papas rellenas. Mash potato stuffed with meat. Sometimes battered, sometimes not. Often stewing meat cooked for a long time, sometimes minced beef - Tostones/patacones. Plantain chips. The plantain is cut into thick slices and fried for a short while. Then left a little to cool and using a stone, crushed gently flat and fried to finish off - Tamales - "Colombian tamales are usually filled with two main components: meat, this can be beef, pork, or chicken, and corn mash called “la masa” - nothing like Mexican Tamales or Hot Tamales" - apparently. "These are wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks, are much larger, and not as spicy hot." Often bought on the way to work and eaten at lunch time - That's the end of the food. I think you've got the idea.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 6, 2022 9:52:04 GMT
That was an education of note Mark! If I had not been told I would have guessed the dishes were Mexican. Can't say which I would go for but the corn in the dishes is well known to me but on another level. Not yellow but white maize is used here. Otherwise polenta meal is readily available for Italian and European tastes. Small yellow cobs of corn are sold in supermarkets but it's a veg that I think comes from Kenya?
The most delicious of all maize cooked in South Africa is Mealie Bread which is not a bread but a pudding/cake made by mincing fresh new white corn in some form of mechanism - or an old fashioned mincing machine, being careful not to loose the white milky liquid. Add a titch of sugar and put in a deep pudding dish sealed and stood in boiling water until cooked through. Just divine with slavers of butter. NO flour or eggs must be used.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 6, 2022 16:40:41 GMT
The food is definitely different from other parts of the world. I might try my hand at papas de carne (one of these days and probably not soon), but a lot of stuff does not immediately appeal since, as I already said on other threads, I am not a fan of dough/bread etc.
I need to experiment with plantain again. My last experiment did not turn out well.
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Post by bjd on Mar 6, 2022 18:55:40 GMT
I tasted plantain in Colombia and don't think there is much you can do with it to make it "turn out well".
Mark, don't know where you got your translation but "higo" is a fig, not a cactus flower. Maybe it meant the fruit on barbary figs? And moras are large blackberries -- delicious in juice. As Mark's list shows, Colombia is really a great country for fruit and fruit juices.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 6, 2022 19:11:33 GMT
I ate plantain chips in Guatemala. They were not bad, but fried potatoes are definitely better, to my palate.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 6, 2022 20:16:04 GMT
bjd, higo(s) - I know them from Spain as figs but in Colombia - caribbeanexotics.com.co/productos/higo/But mora are as you say for sure, but on my defence, the juice I've had called mora is generally a mix of berries of that type.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2022 22:00:02 GMT
Had a travelling day, went to see some friends that were renovating a house and stopped off at a sugar making place. So I’ll put it in just one post. First, a gratuitous photo - The friends live in the hills to the north of Bogota. They bought the place quite some time ago and it had a residence on it. But they knew they’d need to renovate it. It’s for them not so much the house itself, but the land and views from it. The workers, obviously not doing a lot of work- Renovations and views - You can buy normal refined sugar in Colombia but the vast majority is unrefined cane sugar - called panela. It’s known by other names in other countries and I know it well as jaggery in India. It’s quite a cottage industry to make it but is also made on an industrial scale. It’s not a difficult process but needs a certain expertise to decide when it is “done”. First you extract the juice from the sugar cane - It flows down pipes and also by hand transferred to various stages of boiling the juice. The fires used to heat the juice are fuelled by the wastage from the cane - The main producer of panela in the world is Colombia - about 1.4 million tons/year. The industry is an important source of employment with about 350,000 people working in nearly 20,000 trapiches (panela farms). An estimated 350,000 people are employed in producing the sugar and it is the 2nd largest activity of the rural population after coffee production. Worldwide, the Colombians are the largest consumers of sugarcane, at more than 34.2 kg (75 lb) per capita. Since it is a very solid block, some Colombian homes have a hard river stone (la piedra de la panela) to break the panela into smaller, more manageable pieces. I would have to ask if it’s the same stone or a different one they use to squash the plantain before frying it again. After it is boiled to the right consistency it is left to cool and solidify. Then scooped out - And moulded - Sold then at the stall/shop that will always be at the side - Short one today. But gives you an insight into rural life. More another time.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 8, 2022 5:26:56 GMT
The view from that house is definitely breathtaking.
Interesting to see how the sugar is made but I sort of shudder to think about the diet of simple people.
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Post by bjd on Mar 8, 2022 7:31:43 GMT
Interesting pics of the sugar production, Mark. And indeed, spectacular views from the house.
Kerouac, I don't remember any particular obesity in Colombia. Certainly much less than in N America. Even if country people eat a lot of sugar, they have lots of physical activity.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 8, 2022 8:39:43 GMT
I agree in that I don't remember seeing anyone particularly obese.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 8, 2022 9:09:55 GMT
And how were their teeth?
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Post by mossie on Mar 8, 2022 11:12:19 GMT
I agree in that I don't remember seeing anyone particularly obese. With all those hills to trudge up and down, I am not surprised Keep it coming Mark, it is very interesting it see how the other half Iive.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 8, 2022 11:25:06 GMT
You're welcome Mossie.
K2, I'll make a report on them next time I go.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 8:20:53 GMT
The day began early and was intended to finish late, but due to something we didn’t know about, it ended earlier than expected. We flew north from Bogota to a town called Corozal. The airport there has the best name ever - Las Brujas - The Witches. No, sorry don’t know why. Our intended destination was another town on the Rio Magdalena, called (Santa Cruz de) Mompox/Mompós. I’ll tell you why and about it shortly. The plan was to be, and we had researched it but couldn’t really find much recent information, but the town was always a bit tricky to get to, to fly, then drive, then get a boat, then a bus to end up in Mompox. The first leg was done, to the witches airport. We got a taxi (quite a normal way to move around even longish distances) the 80km or so to a place called Magangue, also on the same river as Mompox. Cost equivalent to 25 Euros. As we drove in to town the driver asked us where we wanted dropping off. We told him the river so we could get a ferry boat to La Bodega and then the bus or a taxi to our destination. He slowed and looked at us. Said the ferries weren’t running any more. Suspecting a trick, like you do, we asked why. He said, well, the new bridge has took all the trade away. New bridge? Yep, kilometres long and pretty new. Now cuts out a lot of travel time and this road goes straight to Mompox. Ahh, ok then, how much more to get to Mompox? It’s a bit shorter from here to there so 20 euros should do it. We agreed in principle but as we were hungry we got him to stop by where the ferries would have gone from so we could grab a juice and a snack (plus then check out if what he said is true). The countryside had changed quite considerably from our time in the lushness around the higher elevations of the Bogota area. Fortunately the temperature had risen as well. Now in the high twenties Celsius compared to just the high teens. Quite flatter and dry. Some shots from the car - We pulled into Magangue - And after a quick empanada or four, and a juice, we nipped “just to stretch our legs for a minute”. The driver was quite happy in a coffee bar waiting. The place was quite dead -
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 10, 2022 9:26:03 GMT
Mompox isn’t the most attractive place name.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 10, 2022 9:50:48 GMT
I suppose those are water taxis lined up around what looks like a taxi rank under a corrugated iron roof. The heat must be just awful.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 12:14:04 GMT
Mick, I agree. I made a bit of a thing of it for a while. Tod, yes you are right. Hot and water taxis, no longer needed.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 13:35:58 GMT
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 13:59:11 GMT
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 15:07:17 GMT
I like how the no sitting sign has the word arse in it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 10, 2022 16:21:45 GMT
It's nice to have a good surprise (bridge) from time to time because often surprises can be annoying. Nevertheless, the boat trip might have been very nice for anybody not in a hurry.
The hotel building is lovely, but I might change some of the furniture if I buy it some day.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2022 17:24:31 GMT
I doubt if there's much else in another style you could buy locally.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 11, 2022 9:43:28 GMT
I am guessing that the contraption in the corner near the "arse" chair is a very very old film projector? The best piece of furniture is the little side table that is made from a thick slice of tree trunk and highly polished. Not so sure I like the white legs tho....
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 11, 2022 10:13:35 GMT
Film projector, yes. White legs I agree. But I think they think it goes with the rest of the furniture.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 11, 2022 17:58:57 GMT
Due to its colonial architecture and mix of styles, the centre of Mompox was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. The town was founded in 1537 and in the 17th century a convent was founded. This though brought the Inquisition - “Mompóx is known as an inquisitorial centre which issues condemnations for chiromancy, heresy, blasphemy, among others.” It also had a reputation for goldsmith work which made it a popular place, even at one time being raided by pirates. It was the first town of the New Kingdom of Granada that proclaimed absolute independence of Spain on August 6 of 1810. It is said that it was carried out under the motto "to be free or to die". Eventually though the thriving port lost its best asset, that of the river. Build up of sediment which plagued other towns on the River Magdalena also caused the river traffic to divert away. During the early 20th Century at one point the river became entirely cut off from the main channel for shipping. Due though to the number of churches and more recently, the yearly jazz festival, the town is coming to life again. This is aided by the new bridge but, as it was opened during covid times, the town has not yet seen an upsurge in tourists. This will come I’m sure and I think we visited at the time when most premises were opening up, movement was not restricted but the tourists had not yet arrived en masse. We took a lot of photos over a couple of days and I’ve tried to weed out duplications from the two methods of photography we used. If I didn’t and you spot one, let me know. We’ll have a walk round, get our bearings and see what there is -
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