Street food in Cali (Colombia)

Food is a way to know the culture of a country. At least I like to think this way, so I won’t feel guilty of eating, hehehe. And there’s no better way to learn about the cuisine than learning about the street food. There are many places where you can try street food, but definitely the offer is way wider in downtown with all the small cafes and food stalls together.

What can you eat here? Well, you can say they have 2 types of snacks: salty and sweet ones. Salty are mostly about potato, plantain, yuca, bread. Sweet ones are about fruit and dulce de leche (cream caramel). Let’s make a summary about what you can find:

Salty:
-areapas: they are everywhere and are similar to a tortilla but wider. They don’t have much taste, you have to add a sauce or aji. My suggestion: trying the egg one.
-papa aborrajada: potato covered with egg and then fried. Actually they call aborrajado to anything covered with egg and then deep fried.
-empanadas: fried pastry filled with a stew of beef and potato
-Pan de bono (bread stuffed with cheese), among other breads in different shapes
-Bunuelo: like a round cheese bread, delicious when it’s still warm

Sweet:
-obleas: round, big and thin wafer. Can be a double, triple or quadruple stuffing can be jam, cream caramel or another sweet
-brevas: fig stuffed with cream caramel
-salpicon: fruit salad
-fresh fruit slices like pineapple and water melon

And to drink you can’t miss:
-lulo juice: a local fruit, sour
-champu: with lulo, pineapple and spices
-and you are in Colombia, so coffee is a MUST: maybe you’ll find it under the name of tinto. It’s sold in small cups. You’ll find lots of people with thermos selling coffee. And more people drinking it.

Trying the street food would make you get closer to the culture of the place, so don’t be afraid to do it and enjoy it as the locals ;)