Marranitas or Puerquitas are a popular appetizer from the Pacific zone of Colombia. Just because we call them appetizers, doesn’t mean you can only serve them as a snack or before a meal. As a matter of fact, if you eat six of these marranitas, you are not going to have any room for dinner

Marranitas literally traslate as “little pig girls” and are fried green plantains stuffed with chopped chicharrones. I know, I know, this is not exactly diet food, but they are absolutely delicious. We Colombians, don’t think about diet when we are eating our Colombian fritters Buen provecho! Read more…

Do you have pork spine?, I asked the butcher at my local market. He looked at me like I was from another planet and said “no, we don’t have that!” Okay, thank you, I said.

I was plannig to make Sopa de Maiz Pelao, a soup that my grandmother used to make. She would add pork spine(espinazo de cerdo) and the flavor was fantastic. So I started getting the rest of the groceries and thinking about that soup I was craving so badly. Well, I decided to buy pork ribs and use them instead.

I made the soup yesterday for lunch and it was delicious. I did not miss the pork spine at all. After I had my soup I called my aunt in Florida and told her the story. She laughed and told me that in this country pork spine are called pork neck bones.

So, if you want to make the soup the way Mamita used to make it, ask your butcher for pork neck bones, but if you prefer my way, use pork ribs. Either way, it is a wonderful soup!

For those who don’t know what hominy is, it is white or yellow dried corn and is used in Mexican pozole. In Colombia, we use it in arepas de maiz pelao, mazamorra or soups. You can buy it and cook it at home from scratch, or just buy it pre-cooked in cans. Read more…

My friend Joan from Foodalogue is going on a virtual culinary tour “South of the Border” and the first stop was Mexico, so I joined her with these Chicken Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa.

This week we are going to El Salvador and I am joining her with their national dish, Pupusas. I didn’t know anything about Salvadorian cuisine when Joan announced the itinerary, so I started searching for information about their culture and food. I learned that some Salvadorian dishes are similar to some Colombian traditional dishes. Such similarities can be seen in dishes such as fried cassava and fried sweet plantains.

Pupusas are a thick tortilla made with masa de maiz, which is also used in Mexican tortillas and tamales. Traditionally, pupusas are stuffed with refried beans, Salvadorean cheese, chicharron( fried pork belly), loroco and other fillings like chicken, shrimp and more. They are served with curtido, a cabbage and carrot salad with a vinegar dressing. I made beans and cheese pupusas for my vegetarian husband and I made chicharron, beans and cheese pupusas for myself and they were both delicious with the curtido. I didn’t have Salvadorian cheese, so I used a mix of Queso fresco, mozarella and cheddar cheese. Read more…

Guest posting today and sharing her delicious recipe is Joan Nova from “Foodalogue”. Joan has a beautiful blog filled with fantastic recipes, travel stories and beautiful pictures.

It’s raining. It’s pouring. The old man is snoring. Do you remember that little jingle from your childhood? It was the inspiration for this dinner. It was raining. It was pouring. There was no old man snoring. Otherwise, I would have woken him up and sent him to the market!

Instead, I ferreted through the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. I mixed. I matched. I re-purposed. And each step (noted below) brought me closer to the ‘kitchen magic’ that we foodies love so much. Read more…

There are many variations of tamales in Colombia, but they all have something in common and that is that they are all wrapped in banana leaves. I am going to post many types of tamales recipes in my blog but to start let me introduce you the tamales Antioqueños, from the region Antioquia, my hometown. This tamales recipe is my mom’s and they are delicious. Nobody makes them as good as my mother, but these came pretty close . It is a tradition in my family to make these tamales for Noche Buena, our traditional Christmas Eve celebration, although we eat them year round as well.

Some Colombia tamales variations are: tamales tolimenses, tamales Vallunos, tamales de pescado, tamales de pipian, tamales de Nariño, tamales Santandereanos and there are more. One of the secrets for making good tamales is to marinade the meat overnight. Read more…

I am a huge lentils and pork chops fan, so I decided to put them together in a lentil stew over white rice. It was simple to make and tasted delicious. I know, not very original, nevertheless, this is a great autumn dish . Read more…

I had a great time with my sister the past couple of weeks. She left yesterday and now I am getting back to my normal routine. She is a great sister and friend to me. I will miss her and look forward to seeing her again soon.

My mother always made a bean soup in Colombia called Green Bean Soup. The type of beans she used however, are not the type of green beans available in the USA. I tried to find the beans here for the longest time but I couldn’t find them anywhere.

While grocery shopping with my sister, I noticed some canary beans. I showed them to her and she thought that they looked pretty similar to the ones our mom would use in her Green Bean Soup, just not green So, I bought some and made the soup. Since I haven’t had Colombian green beans in a while and therefore may not recall the flavor, I wanted my sister to try the soup, as she recently lived in Colombia. I was so happy when I heard her say, “Yes, they are the same”. Well, actually she said “Si, son los mismos”. Anyway, I made the soup the same way my mom used to make it and it was fantastic! Read more…