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Barranquilla's Costeño Table: Caribbean Flavours of Colombia

Barranquilla's food is the Caribbean coast's most expressive table — bandeja costeña, sancocho de guandú, coconut rice, and the fried fish of the Magdalena and the Caribbean define a cuisine distinct from interior Colombia

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1
Bandeja Costeña
The Costeño version of Colombia's national dish - with grilled fish instead of pork, fried plantains, coconut rice and salad - replaces the ingredients from the Andean mountains with ingredients from the Caribbean coast; the result is lighter, more aromatic and distinctly tropical
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Coconut Rice
Arroz con coco - rice cooked in coconut milk until the coconut caramelizes into the grains - is the basic side dish of the Colombian Caribbean; the slightly sweet, nutty flavor of barranquillero coconut rice sets it apart from regular rice in the interior
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Sancocho de Guandú
Sancocho de guandú - a hearty soup of guandú beans (pigeons), pork, cassava, corn and cilantro - is the definitive comfort food of the Colombian Caribbean; The Barranquilla version, cooked low and slow, has an exceptional depth of flavor
4
Patacones and Tostones
The twice-fried green plantain (patacón)—pounded flat and fried until crisp—is the costeño equivalent of bread; served with hogao (tomato-onion sauce), cheese or fried fish, patacón is the Caribbean coast's most versatile starchy side
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Breakfast Arepa de Huevo
Arepa de huevo — a corn arepa with a fried egg inside, deep-fried until crispy on the outside — is Barranquilla's most iconic breakfast; the combination of the corn exterior, the runny egg interior, and the hogao sauce is distinctly costeño
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Chicha and Costeño Beer
Barranquilla's drinking culture revolves around local beer — Águila, Colombia's drunkest lager, was founded in Barranquilla in 1913; the cold beer drunk at the carnival, on the beach and in the city's restaurants is the social lubricant of the Caribbean coast