Latin American Recipes Archives

My Nine Favorite Colombian Dishes

Meine neun Lieblingsrezepte aus Kolumbien

Today I will give you my personal favorite nine recipes from Colombia. You will get main courses, snacks, and desserts. I have been married to a Colombian for ten years now and therefore had the chance to try many Colombian recipes. I was also fortunate enough to visit this beautiful country several times. I am often asked what Colombian cuisine is like. The only simple answer is: this depends. Colombia is a country of vast different climates, you don’t have jungle only, but mountain chains and savannas. Apart from the Caribbean you also have a dessert, therefore it is very hard to pin it down to just a few dishes. Colombia has a wealth of potatoes, you will also see many different types of corn. Typically, a lot of dishes do not contain gluten and are prepared either with potatoes, corn or starches from manioc, etc. Many people are surprised when they learn that Colombian cuisine is not spicy at all, cilantro and cumin are often used as well as annatto, which has a vibrant red color and is simply called “color” in Colombia. I don’t claim at all that these nine dishes are the most typical Colombian dishes, these are simply my favorite recipes. If you would like to see a certain dish or would like to comment, please feel free to do so below. But now let’s get started!

29/02/2020

Colombian Frijoles or Red Beans

Today you will get Colombian red beans or frijoles, yay! I really enjoy eating these and the recipe below was invented by my husband who tweaked the family recipe to his liking. Red beans are served all throughout Latin America. My friends are often surprised when they realize that Colombian red beans are mild in flavor as many immediately think of spicy red beans from Mexico or Brazil. However, rest assured, these beans are not spicy as they are flavored with cilantro and other equally mild herbs.

22/02/2020

Uruguayan Flan and Merry Christmas!

While you are reading these lines, I will be busy packing my suitcase for Christmas. We are going to visit my parents in law in Spain and I will probably be debating which baking utensils to take along for the trip. I am really looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my Colombian family. Colombian Christmas is very different from German Christmas. There is going to be a lot of dancing, a lot of joy, sparkle and food, so much food. I can’t tell you for how long my mother-in-law has been talking about what she is going to make as a special treat for us and what her ideas are for the Christmas menu. In Colombian culture food is extremely important. I am going to suggest to her that we make Uruguayan flan as the Christmas dessert. Why? Because flan needs to be prepared the night before as it has to be chilled. Perfect in my opinion, one thing less to worry about on Christmas. Flan only requires only a few basic ingredients and is prepared in a jiffy, if this is not enough reason, I don’t know what is.

20/12/2019

Coffee Alfajores from Uruguay and Cookie Day

It is time for alfajores. Alfa what you ask? Alfajores are sandwich cookies that first were popular in Spain and later on brought to the colonies in Latin America. Traditionally alfajores are filled with the caramel cream called dulce de leche. Today I brought along some with strong coffee flavor and caramel as the filling. If you want to go extra crazy, you may also use some flaky sea salt as a nice contrast. We are in the middle of my cookie week and since I am posting seven cookie recipes from my birth country Uruguay on seven consecutive days, you get coffee alfajores today.

04/12/2019

Uruguayan Yo-Yo Cookies

These cookies from Uruguay are called yo-yo as they actually look exactly like the toy yo-yo. When I took them to my colleagues as my first batch of test eaters, they got raving reviews. According to a few colleagues, I should bring more often treats from Uruguay if they were as tasty as these cookies. What I like about them is the fact that you can easily mix together the batter fairly quickly. It does contain a small part of cornstarch that makes them extra soft. Obviously it does contain the caramel cream names dulce de leche and is covered in chocolate. This is my sixth recipe in my cookie week.

03/12/2019

Ricarditos from Uruguay

Ricarditos are Uruguay’s version of chocolate-coated marshmallow treats. The base is a shortbread cookie, which then receives a meringue as topping. This meringue is then dipped in chocolate. Obviously, as always the Uruguayan caramel cream called dulce de leche also has to play a role here. Otherwise it would not be Uruguayan duh. This is my fifth recipe during my Uruguayan cookie week.

02/12/2019

Espejitos from Uruguay

Espejitos or small mirrors is the literal translation of these cookies from Uruguay. They are made as a shortbread cookie, filled with jam and the caramel cream dulce de leche and have a chocolate covering. Sounds good? I just love these cookies, jam PLUS, caramel, PLUS chocolate, who can say no to that? Unfortunately it never takes long and they disappear so quickly whenever I make them, I simply can’t say no. These are my fourth recipe of my Uruguayan cookie week, check out the other recipes here.

01/12/2019

Bizcochitos de grasa or Uruguayan Crackers

Bizcochitos de grasa oder uruguayische Cracker

Guys, I believe this is going to be a long post as I need to explain quite a bit. For recipe number 3 of my cookie week, I brought along Uruguayan crackers or bizcochitos de grasa, which are sometimes simply called bizcochitos. These savory crackers are usually served for breakfast or even prior to breakfast. Just as we are used to drinking coffee, Uruguayans drink mate tea. Not the old-fashioned way with tea bags, no, you will serve the loose tea in a curved container, which is called “bombilla”. The brown container you see on the pictures is what I am talking about. Usually the loose tea is placed in the bombilla, the filled with hot water and then you drink it with a type of straw. Mate tea is so common in Uruguay, you will always be offered a cup of it, regardless at which time of the day. You will see people on the streets happily walking around with thermos flasks, hot water is served at every single kiosk. Obviously, when we went on a holiday in Uruguay a few years ago, we naturally drank a lot of it. By the way, everybody will drink from the same straw and water is going to be refilled constantly. I don’t think I have ever heard of anybody being worried about hygiene.

30/11/2019

Salchichón de Chocolate or Uruguayan Chocolate Salami

Salchichón de Chocolate oder Schoko-Salami

Uruguayian salchichón de chocolate or chocolate salami is one of my favorite cookies from Uruguay. I decided to introduce this cookie during my cookie week. This is recipe number 2. You will find something similar in Italy, but since we are in Uruguay, of course we have to add the Latin American touch to it: dulce de leche. How to make dulce de leche from scratch I do explain in this blog post. And don’t you agree, doesn’t it look for real? If Uruguayans are good at something, it’s magically making something special out of the ordinary. Just like these salami cookies. You know, you basically throw together the ingredients, chill them, and then you cut off your salami slices. Well, OK, my version has you roast the hazelnuts, melt the chocolate and crush the cookies, but then you are actually good to go. Doesn’t this sound awesome?

29/11/2019

Meringue Alfajores from Uruguay and Start of the Cookie Week

Today I have something exciting to share. I am doing a cookie week. Yes, you read right, cookie week means I will publish seven cookie recipes on seven consecutive days starting today. I decided to start with meringue alfajores or in Spanish alfajores de nieve, which are chocolate sandwich cookies filled with caramel made from sweetened condensed milk and are dunked in dried meringue. They are my favorite cookie from Uruguay after the chocolate alfajores. I thought it was about time to introduce another variety of alfajores. You can also find classic alfajores, which is a shortbread sandwich cookie with cornstarch, double chocolate alfajores, and today finally alfajores with a thick layer of dried meringue: Alfajores de Nieve. Let’s get started on Uruguayan cookie week!

28/11/2019

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