Colombia

A thick, starchy highland soup from Bogotá built on three distinct Andean potato varieties — papa criolla, papa pastusa, and papa rublo — simmered with bone-in chicken and dried guascas herb until the criolla dissolves into the broth, served with fresh cream, capers, and avocado alongside.

A round, thick cake of pre-cooked ground white or yellow corn (masarepa), griddled or grilled until a firm golden crust forms around a soft, moist interior, eaten plain, split and filled, or topped.

Arroz con Coco is a Colombian Caribbean-coast rice cooked in coconut milk that is first reduced to caramelised curds (titoté) before the rice goes in.

A large Colombian platter from the Antioquia (Paisa) region composed of slow-cooked red beans, white rice, chicharrón, fresh chorizo, a fried egg, a white corn arepa, and avocado — all arranged simultaneously on a single oversized tray with optional ground beef, blood sausage, and ripe fried plantain.

Fried fritters made from boiled mashed yuca (cassava) kneaded with fresh white cheese, shaped into rounds and deep-fried until golden, then served warm with a drizzle of tapa de dulce — a raw-cane-sugar syrup.

A Colombian Andean breakfast soup of simmered milk-and-water broth in which eggs are poached whole, served over stale bread in the bowl and finished with fresh cilantro and scallion.

Chicharrón is pork belly or skin fried in rendered lard until it blisters and crisps into a puffy, shattering crackle with no breading or coating.

A Bogotá breakfast custom of thick, frothy hot chocolate served with a piece of fresh white cheese dropped into the cup to melt, eaten with bread for dunking.

A hand-held, crimped pastry turnover — baked or fried — encasing a seasoned filling of meat, cheese, or vegetables within a tender, flaky or lard-enriched dough.

A shared Colombian street platter piled with assorted fried and grilled meats — chorizo, morcilla, ribs, chicharrón and chicken — served with arepa and potatoes.

A Colombian cooked sofrito of tomato and spring onion slowly stewed in oil, the foundational base sauce and table condiment of Colombian cooking.

Lechona tolimense is a Colombian whole pig deboned and stuffed with rice, yellow peas, and spiced pork, then slow-roasted until the skin turns to crackling, a centrepiece of Tolima feasts.

A Colombian Llanos feast of a whole young calf butchered into large pieces, skewered on cross-shaped wooden stakes, and slow-roasted upright around an open wood fire.

A traditional Colombian drink of fermented or sweetened rice and corn, served as a refreshing, lightly tangy or sweet beverage.

A hearty Colombian soup of slow-cooked beef tripe with vegetables, potato, and chorizo, eaten as a Sunday staple.

A creamy Colombian Caribbean soup of ñame yam simmered until it breaks down into a thick body, with chunks of salty white coastal cheese melting into it.

Colombian Natilla is a firm milk pudding thickened with cornstarch and sweetened with panela, set so it can be cut into slabs and eaten at Christmas.

A Colombian street sweet of two thin round wafers sandwiched with arequipe (dulce de leche) and often jam or other toppings.

A communal, slow-simmered multi-meat stew built on a citrusy broth with starchy root vegetables, traditionally reserved for celebrations and feasts across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Tamales are steamed corn‑masa dumplings filled with savory or sweet mixtures, wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks.