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FijiFlavors · Meta
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.
Traditional dish from Meta
Also known as: ternera a la llanera, carne a la llanera, mamona a la llanera
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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Mamona — Meta, Colombia
Mamona is the meat of a calf that is still nursing, hence the name. Large cuts are skewered on wooden stakes, set around a low wood fire, and slow-roasted for hours, seasoned only with salt and their own juices. The fire is not stoked so the meat does not burn on the outside.
Fedegan, the federation of Colombian cattle ranchers, tells the dish’s history on its Contexto Ganadero portal. Cattle raising in the Llanos began with Jesuit missions, and the practice of roasting meat outdoors came with the Spanish colonizers. On the hatos, the large cattle ranches of the plains, the owner would have a milk-fed steer slaughtered to share with the cowboys at the end of the workday.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when the old cattle routes reached Villavicencio, the capital of Meta, asaderos — restaurants specialized in roast meat — appeared, and mamona became a symbol of Llanos tourism. The press points to it as Meta’s most recognized dish, and the municipality of Cumaral holds a festival dedicated to carne a la llanera.
The traditional llanera version comes with cassava and plantain; potato was introduced under the influence of neighboring highland areas. Mamona is also prepared in other departments of the Llanos, such as Casanare and Arauca.
Meat from a milk-fed steer (various cuts), salt, and firewood. Accompaniments include cassava, plantain, potato, and hot pepper sauce.
In pieces, straight from the stakes, served with cassava, plantain, and potato.
Festivals, gatherings, and weekends; at asaderos in Villavicencio, year-round.
Your questions
Because it is made from the meat of a calf that is still nursing, which is more tender.
The cuts are skewered on wooden stakes and slow-roasted for hours around a low wood fire, seasoned only with salt.
At the asaderos of Villavicencio and in municipalities across Meta, which serve carne a la llanera year-round.
Flavors of Colombia
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