Street Eats

Hey all! I wrote this for www.ticartagena.com. Cos I'm exceptionally lazy, I'm just going to use it to provide the promised entry on the food here in Cartagena. Anyway, just explaining the formal-ish tone.

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The streets of Cartagena offer a virtual smorgasbord of sensory treats for the hungry visitor or resident. After devouring the city's colourful architecture, drinking in the postcard-worthy views and smacking your lips at the tasty musical offerings, you'll probably want to eat some actual food.

And the place to do it? Street-side of course.

Whether you are chasing a snack or something more substantial, a healthy start or a sweet denouement, take to the streets to experience food the way Cartagenans do whilst simultaneously gaining an insight into the people and culture of this incredible city.

Here's our pick of the best street eats from breakfast through to midnight snack. These should whet your appetite, but we suggest the real fun is found in discovering your own! Buen provecho! 

Breakfast Fast 

Start your day with the most quintessential of Colombian foodstuffs – the Arepa. Made using ground corn dough, these tasty treats take many forms; white, yellow, fried, grilled and stuffed.

Opt for a substantial, stick-to-your-guts serving of the Arepa de queso that will keep you going til lunch. White corn dough is mixed with cheese, shaped into squoval patties, then grilled until golden. The vendor will then strategically prong your arepa with a knife, to allow melted butter to seep into the crevices. Definitely a heart starter. Try to ignore the greasy transparency of your serviette once you've finished eating.

Equally popular is the arepa de huevo. These yellow, usually round, parcels of joy actually originated on the Colombian coast, but are now popular throughout the country. Made using yellow corn dough, an entire egg is added before frying. Some versions also include meat. Try to buy them fresh out of the fryer for finger-licking flavour.

For those watching their waistlines, a tropical fruit platter might be a better bet. Wave down one of the colourfully-costumed Pelenque women and watch as she transforms your plastic plate into a work of art – Maracuya (passionfruit), Lulo, Carambola (starfruit), Pitaya (dragonfruit), Sandia (watermelon), Nispero and Papaya are arranged decoratively for an antioxidant hit that tastes as good as it looks.

Pick up a tiny cup of black coffee or tinto from one of the thermos-toting vendors, then head to a bench in one of the Plazas to enjoy your breakfast al fresco.

Snack Attack

Either side of lunch you'll be chasing something small to tie you over and Cartagena's streets do not disappoint.

For our money, you can't beat a bag of mango biche. Colombians eat their mango unripe, crunchy and doused in lemon, salt and dried chilli powder. You can also buy green guava served in the same way. You will find carts selling the skinny soldiers of cut up fruit throughout the city. 

 

For an alternative tropical snack, find a coco frio cart – the vendor will pop a straw into the chilled coconut for you to slurp away. The energy-filled coconut water will return the spring to your step, then if you stick around, the vendor will cut open your finished coconut so you can gobble down the other other white meat inside.

If you make your way past the Torre de la Reloj towards Getsemani, you will stumble upon another foodie-find and a perfect afternoon snack: Cheese with guava. Eat the white, spongey cheese with a slab of the tart, ruby-red guava paste and you have something of a taste sensation.

Lunch

For Cartagenans lunch is the most important (read: largest) meal of the day. Locals will usually either paper-bag a meal from home or grab a styro-foam pack filled with fish, pork, beef or chicken grilled with onion and peppers and served with rice and lentils. Strangely, it will also sometimes come with a portion of what seems to be tinned spaghetti. Go figure.

To nab your own, simply ask someone on the street who is already eating, “de donde compraste” and s/he will point to a vendor walking the streets with large plastic bags filled with stacks of the styro-foam lunchboxes. Be warned, there is a limited window for purchasing this lunch option, normally between noon and 1.30pm.

Alternatively, make yourself a very traditional lunch of fritanga food – FRIED! Try some empanadas – semi-circular pastry pillows with assorted fillings (beef, chicken, cheese). Then be sure to load them up with plenty of salsa! We've had a number of favourable reports supporting our claims that the freshest are found on sale parallel to the wall at Calle 38 and Calle Zerrezuala (near the Exito Supermarket).

You'll probably also need something to wash it all down with. Again, the streets provide! You won't need to look far to locate one of the vendors pushing along a giant fishtank filled with icy juice. Perhaps try the sweet and sour tartness of a tamarind juice or a lemon/lime juice, to cut through that lunchtime grease. Also popular is Avena – a white drink made on oats and served both hot and cold. You can identify these vendors because the beverage is kept in giant silver vats.

Dinner Winner

If you're harbouring some nostalgia for the gloriously 70s dish that was the prawn cocktail – you're in luck! They never went out of fashion in Cartagena. Just beside the Torre del Reloj you will find a string of stalls selling coctel de camarones (some stalls also call themselves cevicherias although if you are expecting a Peruvian ceviche you will be disappointed). Choose your cup size (the different sized cups are on display and conveniently have the prices written on the outside), then choose your seafood – prawns/shrimp, squid, mussels, octopus or a combination. The vendor will combine your selection with finely diced purple onion and garlic, lime juice and a home-made thousand-island sauce. Eat your prawn cocktail with the water crackers provided and be sure to accept the complimentary mint for your garlic breath!

Something Sweet

Just because you are bypassing restaurants, there is no need to miss out on dessert. In fact, Cartagena has an entire dedicated street of sweets: el Portal de los Dulces. Opposite the Torre del Reloj (Clock Tower) in the Plaza de los Coches you will find stalls stacked high with sweet-filled glass jars. The candies are intensely sweet, so one will usually suffice. Examples include fist-sized mounds of coconut and condensed milk, tiny blocks of caramelized peanuts, slabs of sour guava or tamarind dipped in sugar, bolas de panela (brown sugar and popcorn balls) and muñecas de leche (“milk dolls”). 

 

Midnight munchies

So you've worked up an appetite shaking your stuff at Havana all night? Or perhaps you need something savoury to offset all those Cuba Libres? The man you need to see is DJ Hotdog. With his unique combination of pumping beats and calorific buns, this Costellan character is top dog in Plaza Trinidad.
Grab one laden with every conceivable condiment (give the pineapple or pina a try) and eat while chatting to other appreciative strangers, watching fire-twirlers and wiggling along to DJ Hotdog's musical stylings.