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FijiFlavors · Tolima
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.
Traditional dish from Tolima
Also known as: lechona
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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Lechona tolimense — Tolima, Colombia
The Tolimense lechona is a whole pig opened, deboned and stuffed with its own chopped, seasoned meat mixed with cooked dried yellow peas. Once sewn up, it is baked for many hours until the meat becomes tender and the skin turns into a crispy shell. A large lechona yields hundreds of servings.
The Tolima Secretary of Culture and Tourism presented it as one of the department’s greatest prides. The Tolima Assembly established June 29 as Tolimense Lechona Day; in El Espinal the same date is celebrated as National Lechona Day. The tradition is shared with the neighboring Huila region, an area many call Greater Tolima.
The Tolima recipe does not include rice, unlike versions from other regions of Colombia; this is a point of local pride. Its origin is often linked to the Castilian roast brought by the Spaniards during the colonial period, prepared for festivities.
Lechona is found in the market squares of Ibagué, El Espinal, Guamo, Saldaña and Purificación. It’s served in portions with a piece of skin, accompanied by insulso, a corn sweet similar to a pudding, and sometimes with arepa.
Whole pig, seasoned pork meat, dried yellow peas, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Served with insulso.
As a portion served from the lechona itself, with meat, peas and a piece of crispy skin; with insulso and sometimes arepa.
June festivals (San Juan and San Pedro), Christmas and family celebrations; in market squares, year-round.
Your questions
No. The traditional Tolima recipe includes only seasoned pork meat and dried yellow peas. Rice appears in versions from other regions.
A corn sweet similar to a pudding, served alongside lechona in Tolima and Huila.
June 29. The Tolima Assembly instituted Tolimense Lechona Day, and El Espinal celebrates National Lechona Day on the same date.
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.
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.
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.
