Bandeja paisa

A Paisa platter is a meal popular in Columbia, especially of the Antioquia department and the Paisa Region, as well as with the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis, and part of Valle del Cauca and the northwest of Tolima. The dish is traditionally served in a large, oval-shaped tray due to the large amount of food that is served. Side dishes include mazamorra (a maize-derived beverage similar to atole) with milk and ground panela.

There are several variants of the dish all over the country with deletion or addition of ingredients, which cannot be recognized as bandeja paisa in the strictest sense of  a traditional bandeja paisa.

The main characteristic of this dish is the generous amount and variety of food in a traditional bandeja paisa: red beans cooked with pork, white rice, carne molida (ground meat), chicharrón, fried egg, plantain (plátano maduro), chorizo, arepa, hogao sauce, black pudding (morcilla), avocado and lemon. There is also a diet-friendly version of the dish that is very popular in Bogotá, which replaces pork with grilled chicken breast, black pudding with salad and chorizo with a wiener.

The origin of the bandeja paisa was influenced by several different cultures that inhabited Colombia throughout the centuries, including the indigenous peoples of Colombia, as well as colonial Spaniards and Africans. In the 19th century, French and British colonialists also brought their cuisine with them.