The typical food of Cali includes dishes such as sancocho de gallina, atollado rice or marranitas vallunas. The recipes are influenced by the cultures that have inhabited there: indigenous people, Spanish conquerors and descendants of African slaves.
Santiago de Cali, the official name of the city, is located in Colombia. It belongs to the department of Valle del Cauca and, by population, is the third most important town in the country.
Its foundation dates from 1536, which makes it one of the oldest in all of America.
Cali is one of the cities in Colombia with the greatest gastronomic offer. The most common ingredients are pork, beef or chicken, and root vegetables such as yucca or potatoes. Likewise, corn, rice and banana are widely used.
The 5 most outstanding typical dishes of Cali
one-
Unlike the sancocho from other areas of Colombia, which is made with fish, pork or beef, the one from Cali has the Creole chicken as its main ingredient.
It is the dish most appreciated by the inhabitants of the entire Valle del Cauca, especially by those who live in the capital. It is very common in the parties and celebrations that are organized in the area.
The end result is a thick soup in which, in addition to chicken, potatoes, green plantains, ears of corn and yucca are used, among other ingredients.
The use of herbs such as coriander, cumin and sweet pepper ends up giving it its characteristic flavor.
two-
Atollado rice is part of the Spanish gastronomic heritage, although local ingredients have been added.
As with other dishes, there are numerous variants with slight differences in the ingredients.
The most traditional one has pork ribs, chicken breast, bacon and sausage. Creole potato is also added, which ends up thickening the stew.
Sometimes, ripe banana and peas are also added. It is usually accompanied with hogao sauce.
3-
This is another food that comes from the Spanish conquest, although the empanadas have an Arab origin.
The vallunas have crossed the borders of Valle del Cauca, and are currently found throughout Colombia.
The dough is made with a corn base, an indigenous contribution to the recipe, and the normal filling is meat or chicken.
It is a meal that is eaten at any time of the day, as it is found in many corners of the city. In Cali they are usually accompanied with chili, guacamole or lemon.
4-
There are numerous versions about the birth of this recipe, but the most likely one places it in the Hacienda el Bono.
There they copied an indigenous formula and added fermented cassava starch, corn and cheese to the traditional bread.
After mixing this dough with eggs, they are given their characteristic shape and baked. It is a very appreciated meal at snack time or breakfast, being found every morning in most of the Cali bakeries.
5-
The white manjar valluno is the most popular dessert in the entire city and its metropolitan area.
Its fame has grown so much that it is common to find it throughout Colombia, especially during Christmas. It is a food of Arab origin that was brought to America during the Spanish conquest.
Its flavor is very similar to that of dulce de leche and requires very few ingredients. The main ones are milk, brown sugar, rice and cinnamon.
To prepare it, you just have to cook all the elements until they reach the desired texture.
References
- Living Cali. Typical food of Cali: The most typical dishes. (2016, September 5). Obtained from vivecali.com
- Carrillo, Liliana. Enjoy the Cali gastronomy !. (2016, October 26). Obtained from colombiatravelnow.com
- Invest Pacific. Gastronomy. Retrieved from investpacific.org
- Wikipedia. Chicken stew. Obtained from es.wikipedia.org
- Dinho, Erica. Blancmange. Retrieved from mycolombianrecipes.com