"Colombia's most formidable plate: ten components including beans, rice, chicharrón, egg, chorizo and arepa — built to fuel a mountain farmer for a full day."
About Bandeja Paisa
Colombia's most formidable plate — a platter built to feed a coffee-region labourer: red kidney beans, white rice, chicharrón (fried pork rind), ground beef, chorizo, fried egg, sweet plantain, black pudding, avocado and an arepa; banned by no cardiologist who has tasted it; the Antioquia region's proudest export.
Bandeja Paisa — a staple of Colombia's cuisine
Colombia's most formidable platter: red kidney beans, white rice, chicharrón, ground beef, chorizo, fried egg, sweet plantain, black pudding, avocado and an arepa. Built for coffee-region farmworkers. The beans and rice are cooked separately and combined on the platter.
The fried pork rind (chicharrón) must be freshly fried — its crackle and fat are the textural anchors of a plate that otherwise has a lot of soft components.
What to Expect
The bandeja paisa covers the entire table when it arrives. You eat it in no particular order — a bite of chicharrón, a forkful of beans and rice, the egg broken over everything.
Why Try It
Bandeja paisa is Antioquia's proudest export — the region's agricultural abundance expressed as a single overwhelming plate.
Insider Tips
Eat it at lunch — it's too substantial for dinner.
The beans should be cooked with hogao (tomato-onion sauce) — plain beans are wrong.
Restaurante El Rancho in Medellín serves one of the most reliable versions.
