lobster Archives - Bidmead Bites

Note to self – do not eat endangered animals

19th July 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Despite travelling extensively throughout Colombia, there are a few spots that always pull me back. Cartagena, just an hour and a half away from Barranquilla, is certainly one of the places. A top tourist destination, its old city is a UNESCO world heritage site and its nearby islands are home to some of the countries most pristine beaches. A friend recently visited from Buenos Aires and when I asked what he wanted to do, the response was clear. “Beach, beach and lots of sun”. Coming to visit me on the Caribbean coast, he was in luck! We headed to Cartagena for a few days to soak up some rays and naturally, food held an important part in the holiday.

Isla grande

We began our trip by setting off for a nights stay on a group of islands known as the Islas del Rosario, about 45 minutes away from Cartagena by boat. Made up of various small islands, we stayed on Isla Grande and were treated to two days of gorgeous sun and completely unspoiled beaches.

Loster lunching on Isla Grande

The hotel we were staying at had delicious food, however it was rather on the fancy side. We decided to venture away from the hotel and explore the island, home to around 800 permanent residents. We got chatting to a local fisherman who showed us some very impressive freshly caught lobsters, which soon became our lunch! They came cooked al ajillo (in a garlic sauce) and grilled, served with patacones (fried plantain slices). The lobster was flavorsome beyond belief – completely fresh and cooked to perfection.

(Property of the Travel Chanel)

Like many other food-lovers, I hold the chef Anthony Bourdain is extremely high esteem. The author of the Kitchen Confidential, a fascinating insight into the world of restaurants and well worth a read for any foodies, he is also the star of his own show No Reservations, where he travels the world trying typical (and sometimes not so typical) foods in many different countries. The clip above is a section from the No Reservations Colombia episode, and if you skip to 4 minutes in you can see Bourdain at Cartagena’s very own Bazurto Market.

Be warned – Bazurto is no trendy pop-up style food market. It’s a chaotic, dirty, loud and rather smelly place, but if you want to see the real Cartagena, this is where to come. I previously visited with my sister and enjoyed it so much I decided to head back with my friend. Although he seemed slightly overwhelmed by it all (seeing a chicken being boiled while a van full of soldiers with machine guns rocked up was perhaps slightly unsettling), we headed off in search of the famous Cecilia’s, as featured in Bourdain’s No Reservations episode.

Stewed turtle, served with coconut rice, yucca, sweet plantains and salad

When I had visited previously, Cecilia’s famous turtle wasn’t an option, but returning I was spoiled for choice – fried, stewed or grilled, turtle seemed to be the top meal of the day. In his No Reservations episode, Bourdain himself states that turtle is endangered, but that its consumption has been part of the indigenous culture for hundreds of years. Upon reflection, although this was completely delicious, with a dark, rich flesh and a perfectly seasoned coconut vegetable sauce, eating an endangered species should never be condoned. Even if locals around me were choosing it, as a foreigner I shouldn’t be encouraging this practice. As a unique experience, it was definitely interesting to try this local dish, even if I will not be doing so again (I promise!).

Relaxing on Playa Blanca, Baru island

After the sights and smells of Bazurto market, it was back to the beach for another day of relaxation before we headed across the coast to Santa Marta, another one of my regular haunts. It’s a tough job all this travelling and gastronomical exploration, but I guess someone has to do it. Stay tuned for another travel post which sees me return to perhaps my favorite spot in all of Colombia, its salsa capital Cali.

Desert Dining

22nd June 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Time flies when you’re having fun.

Heard that one before? Personally, I couldn’t agree more. It’s hard to believe that nearly a year has gone by since I arrived in Colombia. Now down to my last two months in this incredible country, I’ve finished with work and am off on my travels. And what better way to begin than heading into the desert?

Cabo de la Vela

Part of the Caribbean region of Colombia, La Guajira is one of the countries 32 departments and is home to the Wayuu, the indigenous group who survived the conquest by the Spanish. My friend Ari and I made a trip all the way to the tip of the region in order to reach Punta Gallinas, South America’s most northern point. Along the way, we stopped over in Cabo de la Vela, a small town now popular for its great kitesurfing conditions.

London town, it is not…

Cabo de la Vela is hardly Colombia’s most buzzing touristic spot. Made up of a few guest houses, some local joints to eat and now a kite surfing school, this tiny town is a beautiful, tranquil spot unlike anywhere else I have ever visited. We stayed two nights here and enjoyed it’s unspoiled beaches and beautiful viewpoints. The local food was very similar to the regular Colombian fare, except that around La Guajira you’re more likely to be offered chivo (goat) than your usual chicken or beef.

Friche, without the guts, served with patacones, rice and salad

Goat here is most typically served in the dish friche. Having done my culinary homework beforehand, I had read that friche was goat stewed in its own guts and blood – something right up this offal-lovers street. However, after sampling the dish and chatting with locals about its preparation, it turns out that more often than not the blood and organs are left out, leaving this as just goat meat fried in oil and salt. I am a big fan of goat meat, as it has a lovely rich flavor, but served just like this I felt that perhaps it needed a touch of something else. Maybe I was just gutted about the lack of guts?

After two nights in Cabo de la Vela we headed onwards to reach Punta Gallinas. Not a smooth journey, we shoved ourselves into the back of a Jeep and clung on for dear life as we shot across the desert to reach our final destination. We gained some souvenirs from the journey in the form of bruised bottoms but it was all worth it in the end, as Colombia’s most northern point awaited us…and us alone!

This beach above stretched as far as the eye could see, and unbelievably, we were the only people on it! I’ve seen many a beautiful beach in the past year, but more often than not I’m sharing it with a fair few other foreigners, and if not, some keen Colombian holiday-makers. This perfectly unspoiled landscape was truly breathtaking and the peace and quite around it was just incredible.

After a day spent bathing in the beauty of Punta Gallinas, we indulged ourselves for dinner, dining on some freshly caught lobster, served again with rice, patacones and salad. Lobster in La Guajira is sold at market price, meaning it is actually an affordable indulgence. Great news for seafood loving travelers like myself.

Waking up after a blissful nights sleep in one of these amazing chinchorros (traditional wayuu hammocks, with sewn on blankets), it was time to hit the very, very long road back to civilization. We would be returning through Uribia, the indigenous capital of Colombia, just in time for the festival of indigenous culture. And what better way to get stuck into a different culture than through a plate of food?

Top plate is chivo guisado, with friche below, both served with goat soup. A whole lot of goat!

Queue more friche, this time served with arepas, and another goat dish – chivo guisado (stewed goat), served with rice, costeño cheese, and a sweet plantain slice. I much preferred the chivo guisado, as I think adding in more flavors brings out the taste of the meat far better. Both these dishes came accompanied by a tasty soup, made from the neck and spine of goat. I did mention they eat a lot of goat here right?

My trip to La Guajira was different to any other journey I have done in Latin America so far. The preserved indigenous culture of the Wayuu and vast, stretching desert make this a must-see spot for anyone travelling around Colombia. My future travel plans include sampling the country’s best coffee in the Eje Cafetero, eating some exotic jungle fruits and fish in Leticia, as well as visiting the UNESCO recognized gastronomical heritage city of Popayan. I’ll stay peckish and keep posting my culinary conquests through Colombia, so stay tuned!

Popping over to Panama – Sun, Sea, and plenty of seafood

26th March 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I was very lucky to nab some time off work along with some flights to Panama, where I headed to for four days to meet up with a friend. Panama lies just an hour’s plane ride away from Colombia. Home to a buzzing capital and some absolutely beautiful beaches, I couldn’t wait to see what Colombia’s next door neighbor had to offer.

Hello Panama City!

Panama city itself is a real melting pot of races, and food wise this means there are cuisines from all corners of the globe. In my brief stay in the city, I munched on some New York bagels for breakfast, a traditional Panamanian plate for lunch, and enjoyed a cracking Italian pizza for dinner. Not bad for a days work!

Moving away from the city, on my second day we made a short trip to the Caribbean side of the country and headed to an island called Isla Grande. The change from the cosmopolitan city to the completely tropical Caribbean was amazing to see. Landscapes shifted from high-rise apartment blocks to completely green hillsides and a gorgeous clear sea. The food was just a spectacular as the view, something I discovered when we headed for lunch to the classic spot Restaurante Adriana, frequented by lots of surfers who head to the island. The menu was simple and consisted of the day’s freshest catches..luckily for me, this happened to include lobster. My order was not a difficult one!

Lobster is life

Langostino al ajillo (lobster in a garlic sauce) came accompanied by arroz con coco (coconut rice), a salad and the typical patacones (fried plantain rounds). Simple, fresh, and completely delicious, I devoured every last bite on my plate. The lobster was so flavorsome and had the absolutely perfect texture. I was determined to get the recipe for the ever-so-simple yet truely incredible garlic garnish, but I was told by the owner Adriana that “es un secreto” (it’s a secret). Despite being able to guess it’s main components (garlic, parsley, onion), part of me thinks no matter how hard I’d try it would never turn out half as good – probably best it stays a secret in Isla Grande!

Adriana will not share her secrets, so don’t bother asking

Leaving the Caribbean it was by no means goodbye to the beach, as the next day we set off for the Pacific side, to a beach called Playa Venao. After a long 5-hour car journey over there, it was lunchtime – again! Stopping off in the nearby town Pedasi to eat, you can guess what was on the menu, and after claiming I fancied chicken, I quickly looked around, saw the sea, and laughed at myself. Chicken in the city? Sure thing. Right next to the sea with some of the freshest fish and seafood in the country? Well…probably order yourself a fish dish then!

We went all out and even ordered a starter of almejas (clams) in broth. A really tasty dish, these clams came in a dark, salty sauce, and were the perfect thing to whet our appetite. And then came the main attraction – pulpo a la criolla, or squid in a tomato sauce.

The squid came with an option of rice, patacones, or fried yucca. I opted for the yucca, as I absolutely love the stuff. If you’ve never tried it I highly recommend you do. It’s a starchy root vegetable with an almost sweet flavor. Served like this, as chunky chips, they are divine and a great side to mop up the tomato-y sauce. Yet another successful almuerzo down, we headed off to the beach.

A few more days of sun, sea and and seafood and it was soon time to head home. I really fell in love with Panama and everything I was able to see of it. The city had a cool vibe, with lots going on, and the beaches and coast were some of the most beautiful I’ve seen. With it being so close to Colombia, I definitely want to head back at some point and explore a bit more.

Hasta la proxima, Panama

Christmas Travel BidmeadBites (Part 1)

8th January 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

After a wonderful trip back home for Christmas, I hit the road and headed back to Colombia with my sister in-tow. Currently writing this post from the salsa-capital that is Cali, here is a brief run down of some of our culinary conquests so far.

We started off in Bogota, the countries capital, and the home of wonderful dishes such as ajiaco. As I’ve already eaten ajiaco several times, even having made it myself, I was tempted by the more unusual bogotano foods, such as milk soup with a poached egg in it, known as changua.

Traditionally eaten for breakfast, I have to say it was an odd morning meal-time experience for me. The bowl of milk made me feel I was about to eat cereal, but the poached egg evoked desires of toast and bacon. Next time, I might just stick to porridge.

My love of changua meat and all things offal is well documented, and may even verge on excessive. However, my wonderful sister Anna avoids eating our furry friends altogether. While this may raise doubts about whether we are really even related, luckily she eats fish, which meant our stay in the Caribbean island of San Andrés was stress free, as we found ourselves in seafood heaven. Bring on this enormous lobster to share, cooked al ajillo (with garlic), on the idyllic island of Johnny Key, a 20-minute boat ride from San Andrés.

For comedy value, I’ll include our New Year’s Eve dinner in here. After having searched in vain for a fancy joint to enjoy our last meal of the year at (reservations, it turns out, may have been needed), we warmed up for the fiesta in the island’s answer to KFC – KikiRiki, the local chicken shop. My pescetarian of a sister, ordering fish in a chicken shop, had a tough job deciphering which plate was her fried fish fillet and which was my chicken. Bless her soul. The issue with generic fried fillets…chicken or fish?

After much drinking, dancing, and general merriment on New Year’s Eve, it’s fair the say we weren’t feeling our freshest the following day. Not to worry, as fresh ceviche from the seafood shack on the beach was there to nurse us back to normality – beats an English fry-up any day.

Much like with the changua in Bogota, often there will be dishes I am told are traditional to a place, and no matter how weird they may be, my constant desire to sample new cuisines pushes me to try them. Introducing Stew Crab with breadfruit.

It may look like pulled pork, but this here is pretty much every part of the crab meat, stewed up. While I didn’t dislike it, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind, and it’s slightly gritty texture was slightly off-putting. Still, glad to have tried some local cuisine before we left the island, we said goodbye to San Andrés and headed down to Cartagena. I’ve already done a blog post on Cartagena, and what was now my third trip to this wonderful colonial city provided even more great food to try.

This mixed seafood platter was perhaps my favorite meal of the whole trip so far. Eaten in the sun, with an ice-cold beer, on a boat we were sharing with friends, I took a moment to reflect. This seafood came directly from the sea onto our plate, and with food this fresh, nothing else is needed. A touch of garlic and sprinkle of salt was enough. Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that are the best. And that is a thought that could be applied to many things, inside and out of the kitchen.

On that note I leave you, as the salsa clubs of Cali wait for no women, not even the Bidmead sisters. Stay tuned for Part Two of this post, where I will write up what comida Cali has had to offer, along with my beloved Barranquilla, and one last trip down the coast.

Check out my Instagram @bidmeadbites for daily updates on what local treats I’m trying, all under the hashtag #travelbidmeadbites.

Anna and Eve Bidmead climb a church somewhere in San Andres…until next time!

Comiendo en Cartagena

8th September 2014 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

A month has now passed since I touched down in Colombia, and one of the real beauties of living here in Barranquilla is its location. An hour or so out of the city you can find small hillside villages, the glitz and glamour of exclusive beachside resorts, world-renowned national parks and some of the best diving to be found on the continent. Last weekend saw me headed to Cartagena. Declared part of the UNESCO World Heritage in 1984, Cartagena is a gorgeous city with beautiful Spanish colonial buildings, a nugget of the Caribbean coast seemingly frozen in time.

A mere two nights was not sufficient time to fully explore the beautiful old city, and I feel sure I will return again many times to further discover what Cartagena has to offer. My first trip did however offer up something very special – a trip to one of the islands that makes up the Islas del Rosario. Once we reached the island, of course the question on everybody’s lips (perhaps mine the most), was – “What’s for lunch?”.

To be brief, this fellow...

Now some people might think it weird, or cruel to hold a live creature in their hands (or fingertips) just before they proceed to chow down on it. But hear me out. I think with all the convenience of supermarkets today, where you can buy cleanly wrapped, pre-packaged portions of meat and fish, it’s easy to lose sight of where the produce initially comes from. So when presented with the opportunity, I took the chance to get cosy with my lunch. An hour later I found my new friend served along with the traditional sides here on la costa, coconut rice and patacones (double fried plantain chips).

A traditional Colombian costeño lunch was followed by a trip to the less traditional, but no less loved chain restaurant of Crepes and Waffles. Absolutely huge over here, Crepes and Waffles serve…you guessed it. There is a huge variety of savoury crepes to choose from, as well as great salads and filled pittas. After such a huge lunch, I opted for the lighter salad bar option, which permits you the freedom to fill your own plate with delicious and nutritious nibbles such as vegetable quinoa, roasted aubergine, many nuts and seeds, eggs, all the vegetables you can think of. And then obviously there’s room for waffles for dessert, which I ate with such enthusiasm I forgot to take a photo (apologies!). But let me reassure you – nutella, hazelnut ice cream and waffles make a damn fine combination.

What is also particularly great about this chain restaurant is their employment ethos, where they hire a solely female workforce, providing work opportunities to single mothers who would have perhaps otherwise struggled to find work. So, you can eat your waffle and feel good about it. Excellent news.

Sunday was the last day of our brief trip and I decided to retry some of the dishes I briefly mentioned in my last post, starting with a traditional costeño breakfast of arepa con huevo. Perfect for those of us who want a bit of protein with our carb, this is a normal corn arepa, opened and fried with an egg cracked inside. And why not double the dose of that morning protein with some ground beef in there too?

The best arepas con huevo? So I was told!

There’s various spots on the beachfront selling fritos but when I asked what places were best, I was sent directly to this lady, who proudly told me she had been frying her fritos for twenty years. Amen to that I say. While everyone else seemed to be able to sit in the blazing sun with their breakfast snacks, I waited to get inside to enjoy the blissful fried ball of egg and meat in peace and cool.

Enjoy my frito in the comfort of an air conditioned apartment

Before headed back to Barranquilla, we thought it only right to get some lunch on the way home. Lunch in Colombia is a large affair, consisting of a soup, rice, beans or plantain and meat – meaning dinner is often a lighter snack rather than another huge meal. Although not what I’m used to, it is more a nutritionally sound form of eating, giving your body time to digest your biggest meal of the day, rather than just snoozing straight after it. And I would need a lot of time to digest what our lunch spot was about to provide!

A typical cheap eatery over here, nothing on the menu exceeded COP 20,000 (about £7), and although the owner himself is Argentine, El Pibe serves up nothing but good, hearty Colombian fare.What better place to try what is arguably the dish of the country, Bandeja Pisa? Known to be notoriously large, I felt this dish might defeat me somewhat, so opted for the ‘Bandejita Paisa’, the supposedly ‘half-sized’ portion.

Just a light snack

Half size? Come off it! Kidney beans, rice, arepa, chorizo, ground beef, plantain, fried pork rind and a fried egg make up this beautiful dish. And yes, I ate it all. A full-size portion though? Give me a few more months practise and then let’s see how I go.

Back in Barranquilla, I’m continuing to eat new things daily. Strange animal parts, exotic fruits I’ve never seen before, a variety of deep fried, delicious snacks…and I’ve got so much left to try. Who knows what’s next?!