hogao

This is the key condiment in Colombian cuisine. Colombians tell me there are many different types but, in all the restaurants and homes I’ve eaten at, I’ve really only had one style .

You need a bunch of scallions (also called long onions). I’m still not used to buying so many scallions at once.

• scallions
• tomatoes
• salt
• oil

1. Dice the scallions and tomatoes.
2. Heat some oil in a pan, cook the scallions until translucent.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook briefly (or to taste–when I use canned tomatoes, I often cook it longer to get rid of some of the “fresh can” flavor; it gives a very different flavor).
4. Salt to taste, add a bit of oil, and it’s ready to serve or add to frijoles.

frijoles colombianos típicos

A part of bandeja paisa.

ingredients

• red beans
• pork belly, cubed to 1-2 cm chunks
• mature plantains
• scallions
• hogao (called guiso when used as an ingredient)

steps

1. Soak the beans. Put the soaked beans on the stove and bring them to a simmer.
2. In a separate pot. Heat the pot, put the pork belly in.
3. Once the fat starts to render, add the scallions.
4. When the scallions are translucent, add it them and the pork to the beans.
5. Stir the hogao into the beans.
6. About 30 minutes before you want to eat, chop the plantain into medium dice or smaller. Add it to the beans and simmer.
7. Stir periodically–you want the plantains to break up.

Bandeja Paisa

During our recent trip to Colombia, my sister and I learned to make one of the most traditional of Colombian meals, bandeja paisa. Specifically, it is from the Medellin area.

A friend and her mother walked us through each dish of the meal. We then finished with a few different desserts. And also we made empanadas, because why not make some empanadas? And also we made almojabanas, because I wanted to learn to make almojabanas.

The set of dishes, garnishes and toppings that constituted our bandeja paisa were

• frijoles
• arroz
• chorizo de cerdo
• hogao
• ají
• chicharrón
• carne en polvo
• aguacate
• huevos fritos
• patacones

Roughly translated to English, the dishes for our country plate were

• beans
• rice
• pork sausage
• (sofrito)
• (chili pepper sauce)
• cracklings
• powdered beef
• avocado
• fried eggs
• (twice-fried plantains)

(The items with parentheses have no direct translation in English. For those, I simply give a short description.)

There is something major we skipped, of course–arepas. We’d been eating arepas all week, so didn’t need more. And I already know how to make pretty decent arepas.