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FijiFlavors · Bogotá
Thick hot chocolate, made with water or milk, served with fresh cheese placed inside the cup to melt, and with almojábana or bread. It is part of Bogotá’s onces.
Traditional drink from Bogotá, Bogotá, Distrito Capital
Also known as: chocolate con queso, chocolate completo
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Chocolate santafereño — Bogotá, Colombia
Chocolate santafereño is the traditional hot chocolate of Bogotá. It is made with chocolate tablet dissolved in water or milk and beaten several times until it foams and releases its aroma. Some places add cinnamon or vanilla.
The Bogotá Mayor’s Office lists it among the city’s typical dishes and, according to cooks from the La Concordia market, says it has three times of day: morning, during onces (the afternoon snack), and at night. Drinking chocolate helps face the cold and rainy days of the capital.
What surprises visitors is the cheese. A slice of fresh cheese is placed inside the hot cup, softens, and is removed with a spoon already flavored with chocolate. It is served with almojábanas, corn-and-cheese rolls, bread with butter, or other amasijos — the region’s homemade breads and biscuits.
The set is sometimes called a “chocolate completo.” In traditional cafés in the historic center, the drink is part of the santafereño breakfast, sometimes served with tamal.
Bogotá , Bogotá, Distrito Capital
The Bogotá Mayor’s Office includes chocolate santafereño among the city’s typical dishes, consumed with cheese and amasijos.
Chocolate tablet, water or milk; sometimes cinnamon or vanilla. Accompaniments: fresh cheese, almojábana, bread with butter and other amasijos.
Very hot, served in a large cup. The slice of cheese goes into the drink and is eaten with a spoon when it softens. Breads are dipped in the chocolate.
Breakfast, onces (afternoon snack) and night, especially on cold days.
Your questions
It is the local custom: a slice of fresh cheese is placed in the hot cup, softens, and is eaten with a spoon, already flavored with chocolate.
It is the late-afternoon snack, when chocolate or coffee is usually taken with homemade breads and biscuits.
With either one. Bogotá’s cooks offer both versions.
Flavors of Colombia
Hearty dish from the paisa region: red beans, rice, ground beef, chicharrón (pork crackling), chorizo, fried egg, ripe plantain, arepa and avocado, served on a large platter. It is the dish most associated with Antioquia.
Thick soup of shredded chicken, three types of potato and corn, scented with guascas. It is the dish most associated with Bogotá and is served with capers, cream, and avocado.
Meat stew with native Andean tubers such as cubios, chuguas and ibias, as well as potatoes, corn, fava beans and peas. Radio Nacional calls it an emblematic dish of Boyacá.
Iced lulo refresher made with chopped and mashed lulo, lime, sugar, water and ice. The Cali city government calls it the city’s emblematic drink; it’s served with fried snacks from the Valle del Cauca.
Beef slowly cooked in a dark, slightly sweet sauce with spices and a mild heat. Cartagena’s press calls it an emblematic flavor of the city; it comes with coconut rice and patacones.
Pork marinated for at least a day in bitter orange, beer, onion, garlic and herbs, then roasted in a clay oven. It’s the dish of the San Pedro festivities in Huila, served with insulso, arepa and cassava.
Meat and offal from young goat cooked with salt and then fried until golden, sometimes with the animal’s blood. A dish of Wayuu tradition, offered to visitors who arrive at the rancherías of La Guajira.
Mashed green guineo banana with butter and costeño cheese, sometimes topped with a sauté of tomato and onion. It is the typical breakfast of the banana-growing area of Magdalena and of Santa Marta.
Milk-fed steer slowly roasted on stakes around the fire, seasoned only with salt. It is the dish of the Llanos Orientales and the best-known specialty of Meta, served with cassava, plantain, and potato.
Cuy seasoned with salt, garlic and onion and roasted whole over coals, turning on a spit. A festive dish in families from Nariño, served with potatoes and a peanut chili sauce.
Stew in coconut milk with fish or conch, salted pig tail, green plantain, cassava, yam, breadfruit and dumplings. The ICBF calls it a traditional dish of the islands of San Andrés and Providencia.
A whole pig stuffed with its own seasoned meat and dried yellow peas, roasted for hours until the skin becomes crispy. It is Tolima’s proudest dish, served with insulso.
