By : Yusuf Syukur
Colombia has a privileged location in South America, with part of its coast to the cool Pacific Ocean and part in the Caribbean with its warmer waters. Part of the country has mountains, other part has valleys. Therefore they can grow all kinds of fruits, vegetables and have all kinds of seafood.
Through its history, Colombia has received influence of the Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine's tradition, but also from the Japanese and Arabic way of cooking. We could say that the Colombian cuisine uses different meats, fishes, plenty of vegetables and lots and lots of exotic and delicious fruits. Colombians also love soups, which are practically a must in each dinner or lunch. But the most important fact is that they love their food done with fresh ingredients, and fresh fruits.
In Colombia people have usually three meals a day. The most important meal is lunch. It is a meal consisting of three courses, soup, main dish and a drink, and dessert or fruit. What is more fascinating about Colombia is that all changes according to the region where one is. If we were to name some of the traditional dishes or food of Colombia, we could choose the arepa, the sancocho, the fritanga. Also lots of chicken, beef, fish corn, onions tomatoes, potatoes, rice and several different legumes.
Typical Colombian Drink – Aguapanela
In order to understand what aguapanela is, we must know a little about the panela. Since colonial days panela's importance has been growing. Panela is the sugar cane juice, cooked at very high temperatures, making thus very thick molasses that is put to dry out until it gets to be solid.
In Colombia (and also in Venezuela and Ecuador) the panelas are used in the preparation of a special drink, the aguapanela. It is used to recover from bad colds adding lemon juice, in winter it is drank warm, in summer it is drank very cold. It is also drank by people who do sports, as it hydrates, refreshes and also adds calories for their sport practices.
Among the poor people, it is a highly nourishing drink that can be used at tea time, such as for breakfast whether with milk or not, since it can also be dissolved in the milk and thus a great breakfast can be made with it. It's a great ingredient in the Colombian cuisine.
Many other countries enjoy it too, and also with different additions, they get different drinks.