What To Eat In Medellin

In most parts of Colombia, including Medellin, you’ll find two kinds of food, “comida rapida” meaning “fast food” like hot dogs (perros), and shish kebabs (chuzos). You also have the regular restaurants offering all types of local foods as well as international foods.

Whenever traveling you should follow my guidelines on how to eat and not get sick when traveling.

In Parque Lleras you’ll find all sorts of international food including sushi, mexican, and local food. Usually the vendors of fast food are small places, or food carts found on various street corners.

The food in Medellin is based on some core ingredients including beens, eggs, beef or pork, potatoes, plantains, and the famous “arepa”, a corn based bread similar to the Mexican tortilla.

Some of the most well known typical plates that you may want to try include the following:

Bandeja Paisa: Traditional Antioquia dish with beans, ground beef, egg, rice, plantain, chorizo sausage, pork cracklings, arepa and hogao (a sauce based on tomatoes and onions).:

Ajiaco (Soup): Ajiaco is a Colombian Potato soup. It typically contains pieces of chicken, large chunks of corn on the cob, two or three kinds of native potatoes, and guasca (Galinsoga parviflora), a weedy, aromatic herb that lends the dish part of its distinctive flavour.
The soup is typically served with heavy cream, capers and avocado, all mixed in just before eating in the proportions each individual prefers.:

Sancocho (Soup): Sancocho is probably the most famous of all Colombian soups and is a soup based on chicken, potatoes, and plantains. However many places offer sancocho de res (sancocho made with beef):

Mondongo (Soup): In Colombia sopa de mondongo is often eaten as the soup course of a traditional almuerzo. The soup in Colombia, is often made with chicken or beef stock, with a lot of cilantro. Many vegetables such as peas, carrots and onion are used to flavor the chicken or beef stock. Salt and pepper, along with corn, are also thrown into the soup for extra flavoring. The tripe used for this soup is varied. The most typical kind of tripe is beef tripe, but in several other regions across the nation, pork tripe and chicken or turkey tripes are also used in the soup:

A Little About Medellin

Medellin has the natural setting and weather of various other Latin American and Central American cities. The two things that differentiate Medellin from the rest is the vast transformation it’s had over the past 20 – 30 years, and from a man’s point of view, all the beautiful women.

Once known for being home to arguably the most powerful drug cartel ever known, the Medellin Cartel, lead by Pablo Escobar called this nestled valley city home. Since those times Medellin has seen a renaissance. Safety has improved greatly, the weather is still splendid, yet today you can find hotels, apartments and other accommodations in the city that have all the amenities you would find anywhere else in the world.

Medellin is the type of city that can cater to back backers and businessmen a like. Within the city you can stay at one of the many hostels or rent a luxury apartment with ease. Medellin boasts of good food, good weather, friendly locals, great night life, and many tourist attractions including the “la piedra del penol”.

The Women

Within Colombia, Medellin is known among Colombian men for it’s beautiful and marriage material women. Many Colombians from all over Colombia have been known to say that the when it’s time to settle down, they’ll do it with a “Paisa”, the local term that refers to the women of this region of the country.

Although the culture of the city and the city itself has changed a great deal over the past 15 years, you eyes will not deceive you, when you walk down the Poblado Avenue. The sexy women of Medellin can be seen prancing around the city streets throughout the day. Because of Medellin’s climate, the local women find a local walk refreshing as well as good exercise.

Medellin has become the fashion capital of Colombia and probably one of the hottest fashion focal points in Latin America. Twice a year, Medellin hosts two international fashion events that bring in some of the top fashion names in the world. It’s not surprising that Medellin has become famous for it’s fashion because the women of the city sure know how to dress and look their best.

The Weather

The city of Medellin has an average annual temperature is 22 °C (72 °F), and because of its proximity to the equator, its temperature is constant year round, with minimal temperature variations. Temperatures range from 15 °C (52 °F) to 30 °C (86 °F). Because of the pleasant springlike climate all year, Medellín is known as ‘La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera’ or ‘City of the Eternal Spring’. Exercising, walking, pool activities, and other out door activities can be done all year due to the nice constant spring like weather.

EL Poblado

El Poblado is a large section of city that hosts some of the best hotels, malls, restaurants, bars clubs and casinos in town. If you’re going to Medellin you’re most likely going to want to stay here, at least if you’re a first timer. Most of the hostels in Medellin are located in this section of town close to the famous “Parque LLeras” pronounce “Yeras” (seen on the picture to the left). The blocks surrounding this small park have the highest concentration of bars, restaurants and clubs in the entire city. Most of the best hotels, and hostels are also within walking distance of the park.