Paisa Cuisine

The definition of a Paisa is someone who is born in the city of Medellin in Colombia. Paisas are well known in Colombia for their kindness and welcoming attitude towards foreigners. The traditional food in Medellin is something that everyone that ever visits the city should experience. It absolutely gives a flavor of what Medellin is about and every ingredient in the platter represents an aspect of Medellin. The most popular dish is called La Bandeja Paisa (Paisan platter).
This dish is famously known for the generous amount of food that it contains and the assortment of food in it. In the book, Secrets of Colombian Cooking by Patricia McCausland Gallo, she describes the typical ingredients in La Bandeja Paisa: "red beans, pork, white rice, ground meat, chicharron, fried egg, fried plantain, chorizo, arepa, hogao sauce, black pudding, and avocado, all make for the delicious Paisan Platter, the most typical dish in Medellin." La Bandeja Paisa must have all of these 13 ingredients to be considered legitimate. Make sure you are very hungry before even attempting to devour La Bandeja Paisa. The dish has to be served in a platter, because of its large size, hence the word bandeja. This is because it contains so much food that it would not fit in a dish unless the proportions were cut down. Unfortunately for the picky eaters, that would be insulting to any citizen of Medellin. Colombians all tend to eat in large proportions, and will get insulted if a guest does not eat absolutely everything on their plate.
La Bandeja Paisa is influenced by several cultures that have been in Colombia throughout its existence. Some of these influences are the indigenous people of Colombia, Africans, French, and British, and of course, the colonial Spaniards. Something that makes the platter so special is the juxtaposition of Native American and European ingredients that display all of the different cultures that have influenced everything Medellin is now.
Most would probably agree that the most important ingredient in La Bandeja Paisa is the beans. The beans take the most work to prepare, considering that they have to be left overnight to soak."Leave the beans to soak overnight in cold water. Allow time for soaking the beans, cook them in the soaking water with a tablespoon of oil and when they are half cooked, season with salt to taste. Heat a tablespoon oil in a pan, add the mince and fry. Add half the hogao, stir with a wooden spoon and fry for a few minutes. Cut the bacon into pieces and fry in drippings until they become greaves. When the beans are cooked, add the remaining hogao and cook for 5-minutes." (Guiatodo.com) The entire recipe to La Bandeja Paisa throughly explained can be found on this website.Bandeja PaisaAs this website explains, the process of cooking the beans can be tedious work. Also, the beans are the biggest symbol of Paisan culture, because it is a dish that Colombians consume on a daily basis. Whether its added to La Bandeja Paisa or by itself, Colombians eat beans regularly, and when they are added to the platter they give a foreigner an idea of what Paisans taste everyday.
La Bandeja Paisa is obviously something that anyone traveling to Medellin has to taste. It gives an authentic experience to everything Medellin is. The various types of ingredients included in the platter portray all of the different cultures that have influenced Medellin, and the tremendous amount of food is seen as a symbol of Paisan hospitality because the people of Medellin are always willing to give a lot, even to foreigners.

Catrillon, Erika. Como Preparar La Bandeja Paisa. 2013. Photograph. Medellin.
WORKS CITED
1."BANDEJA PAISA." Mapa Turistico, Comercial Y Cultural En Bogota, Cartagena Y Medellin Colomb. N.p.,n.d. Web. 10 Apr.2013..
2. McCausland-Gallo, Patricia. Secrets of Colombian Cooking. New York: Hippocrene, 2004. Print.