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FijiFlavors · Cartagena
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.
Traditional dish from Cartagena, Bolívar
Also known as: posta cartagenera, posta negra
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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Posta negra cartagenera — Cartagena, Colombia
The posta negra cartagenera is a beef cut, usually a piece of alcatra (rump cap), slowly cooked until dark and glossy. The sauce blends sweet, salty and spices, with a hint of heat. The color and flavor come from caramelized sweeteners like panela, the region’s brown sugar, and dark sauces, which vary from recipe to recipe.
The newspaper El Universal, of Cartagena, calls it an emblematic flavor of the city and a symbol of Cartagena’s cultural mixing. Food reports link the dish to the meeting of indigenous, Spanish and African traditions at the old colonial port, when ingredients and techniques from various origins mixed in the city’s kitchens.
In Cartagena homes, posta negra typically appears on special occasions, such as year-end celebrations. Many recipes require the meat to marinate for hours in onion, garlic and herbs before being seared and cooked.
The classic accompaniment is coconut rice, which balances the sauce’s sweetness. Patacones—slices of green plantain fried—plus a salad or avocado slices complete the dish.
Cartagena , Bolívar
Cartagena’s press calls posta negra an emblematic flavor of the city, prepared in Cartagena homes for special occasions.
Beef (usually alcatra tip), onion, garlic, panela or sugar, dark sauces, spices, salt and pepper. Recipes vary.
Sliced, covered with the dark sauce, served with coconut rice and patacones; sometimes with salad or avocado.
Family lunches and special occasions, such as year-end celebrations.
Your questions
Because of the slow cooking with caramelized sweetener, such as panela, and dark sauces, which leave the meat and sauce glossy and dark.
Coconut rice and patacones—slices of green plantain fried. Sometimes it also comes with salad or avocado.
The sauce mixes sweet and salty, with spices and a mild heat. The level of sweetness varies from recipe to recipe.
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.
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.
