Two major categories of Colombian food: fried and sugary. As you might guess, we often eagerly ate the sweet foods! And we even sampled some of the fried foods. New foods we tried and mostly enjoyed:

Arepa – This traditional Colombian breakfast food is thick yellow corn cake fried on a griddle in butter. It is very similar to a very thick, warm tortilla topped with melted butter. Often arepas are served with cheese on top. The ones we purchased from the supermarket had cheese in the middle of each corn cake. Arepas were not our favorite Colombian food, but tasted better when eaten with other foods such as scrambled eggs or vegetables. Unfortunately we forgot to take a photo before eating arepas on several mornings at our apartment or in a restaurant.

Empanada – This is the most common street food in Colombia, usually eaten for lunch or a light supper. The empanadas we ate were prepared in restaurants. The flat, circular piece of cornmeal dough is filled with vegetables or meat/vegetables, folded in half, and then fried. We were so busy eating and enjoying our empanadas that we forgot to take a photo.

Bunuelo – Julianna, our guide for the city tour, introduced us to this typical Colombian breakfast food of a fried bread ball with a cheesy center. And it is a tasty snack as well.

Obleas and Arequipe – An obleas is a paper-thin, plate-size wafer filled with a sweet gooey substance. It tastes very similar to a classic ice cream cone. We often saw arequipe flavored candy or desserts in the supermarket or on restaurant menus so we felt compelled to try it. This sticky, syrupy substance reminded us of caramel and we enjoyed the two Colombian foods together while sitting on a park bench in Medellin.

Solterita – As we visited parts of Medellin and several surrounding small towns, we often saw street venders selling an orange cookie-like treat. While in Guatape we purchased a solterita from a nice lady with a food booth in the central plaza. The orange wafer-like cookie is topped with gelatin substance. Both parts seemed rather tasteless so we opted not to purchase any more.

Marengon – This dessert with a meringue crust and cream plus guanabana filling is very popular in Colombia, especially when strawberries are added. We ate a delicious marengon in Guatape from a very small shop selling only Marengon. Yummy!

Ice cream served with grated cheese – Yes, this really is a favorite food combination of Colombians. We did try it and concluded that the two foods taste better when eaten separately.

Fruit juices – Colombians love their fruit juices whizzed with water or milk and prefer this beverage to any other at mealtime. We enjoyed many combinations of juices, including a mixture of watermelon, lemon, and cayenne pepper. Very tasty! One of Susan’s favorites was basil lemonade.