Bollos

A bollo is a meal of seasoned meat (chicken or pork) wrapped in soft homemade corn dough (masa), and then steamed in plantain or banana leaves.

Bollos and bollitos in continental Caribbean areas ranging from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia to Panama, and jumping up to Belize, Guatemala and even Mexico, where these terms typically refer to a corn dough tamale.

Just a few ! A bollo may be made with various starches, with cassava for instance. The bollo de yuca ‘cassava bun’ from Atlantic Colombia and Panama consists of puréed or grated cassava with salt, wrapped in corn husks, tied and boiled; it is served with butifarra sausage, queso costeño (“coastal” cheese, a soft white cheese) and pork rind or pork belly. When not made with cassava, bollos de angelitos ‘little angel buns’ are based on corn; the reference to angels derives from its use on All Saints’ Day (November 1). Either way, the bollo is flavored with aniseed and coconut and sometimes also cheese, butter, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and/or clove. Synonyms include bollos de yuca ‘cassava bun’ or bollos de yuca y coco ‘cassava and coconut bun’ (in Atlantic Colombia) and bollos de coco ‘coconut bun’ or bollos ’e coco (in Sucre, Bolívar, Costa Atlántica, and Córdoba departments on the Caribbean coast of Colombia).