Food and Mealtimes

As I mentioned in my introduction on the home page, I love Colombian food! A lot of my favorite dishes are Colombian. Food is very important to Colombian culture because so much of social time with family, friends, and coworkers is spent over a meal. In Colombia, breakfast is a medium to smaller sized meal often eaten with the family before starting the day, lunch is a large meal also eaten with family or friends, and dinner is a snack not often eaten with others. 

Breakfasts often consist of some combination of caldo de Costilla, arepas con queso, tamales, fresh fruit, and either hot chocolate or coffee. It is a smaller meal meant to start the day, but not be too filling. My favorite Colombian breakfast foods are definitely the arepas and fruit!

Lunch, as stated earlier, is the biggest meal of the day. It often is two hours long and people with either go home and eat with their families or with coworkers. Depending on the school, students are allowed to go home during lunch and return or, if their day ends early enough, they won’t have to return in the afternoon. One of my friends has a sibling still in high school and she often comes home around 1pm for lunch and then returns to school. It is also common for coworkers to also eat together during this time. 

Because lunch is so substantial, most of my favorite meals are from this mealtime! My favorite Colombian dish is pescado frito colombiano. It is a fried whole fish, often served with rice, avocado, fried plantains, and lime wedges. The combination of all of these foods is so delicious! And because of the bones, it is normal to eat the fish with your hands. But when you are done, you can use the leftover lime to clean your hands (yes, I was taken aback by this at first too!). The lime juice cuts the grease from the fish, leaving you with dirty, but not oily, hands that then can be easily wiped clean with a napkin. 

Another favorite Colombian dish of mine is arroz con coco, or coconut rice. If made the traditional way, this dish will take all day to prepare. But, as I have linked above, there are recipes that do not require fresh coconut to make the dish. When made properly, the subtle coconut flavor in the soft rice melds so well with the other parts of the meal. My first time eating this dish was with pescado frito colombiano, and it was one of the best meals I have ever eaten! 

As for dinner, it is often an afterthought. It is the one meal not normally eaten as a family unit, and for some it is little more than an evening snack. For my friends, often this meal consists of an arepa or two, some fruit, and some hot chocolate, water, or coffee. 

Colombians place a lot of importance on relationships, and often they use mealtimes as a way to spend time as a group. If you ever visit Colombia or spend time with a Colombian, don’t underestimate the importance of spending some time together eating a meal. For Colombians, sharing food is a huge part of sharing their culture.