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Bidmead back in Barranquilla – Feb 2018

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Nearly three years have passed since I left Barranquilla, where I lived for 12 months while working as a British Council language assistant. As London’s bitter winter intensified, my thoughts wandered to the sun, salsa and downright lovely locura that is my beloved Barranquilla. It was high time I headed back.

Arriving just as carnival was about to commence, I danced, drunk and shook my stuff with the rest of the city, while also revisiting all my favourite Colombian foods.

I’ve published various Barranquilla posts while living there (fried ear and salsa dancing here, how to make your own ajiaco here – just search “Barranquilla” on the home page for more), and in fear of repetition I’ll keep this one brief. Here’s a snappy rundown of my top Barranquilla bites.

First stop was La Immaculada, one of the cities top fruteras, around since 1982. A frutera is the place to head for fresh juices and fried goodies (aptly named fritos).

Frutera Immaculada

Fruit juice and fried goods

What did I eat? A carimañola (meat filed pastry with dough made from yucca) and a dedito (cheesy finger), alongside nispero and mandarin juice, plus the obligatory ají (chilli) sauce.

Mondongo is one of my favourite typical soups and a perfect embodiment of the nose-to-tail approach within Colombian cuisine whereby no meat is left to waste. Made mainly from tripe, the slow cooking of the stomach breaks it down from chewy to smooth, with a rich meaty flavour. Accompanied by yucca, potato and plantain, the flavour is picked up by a sprinkling of coriander and a squeeze of lime.

Mmmm…Mondongo, I’ve missed you (please note my fantastic nails too)

Returning to Barranquilla I realised how things we might consider as exotic at home (huge avocados, fresh coconuts and exotic fruits) are really just everyday alimentation for the costeños. Just look at this coconut lolly I had on route back from the beach – homemade and bought from someone’s front garden, this beats a pre-packaged Twister any day.

Beach life = eating coconut lollies

Or how about this lovely lady, serving half or whole avocados to accompany people’s fish lunches by the river? The sweetness and intense flavour of this avocado has thoroughly ruined any future avo-on-toast I may be tempted to buy while out for overpriced brunches back home.

Best avocados EVER

Want to stop to quench your thirst in the mid-day sun? Why not grab an ice-cold coconut, sold on the side of the road. Sit down, sip the juice, and then ask your coconut vendor to machete open the shell for you in order to enjoy the sweet and creamy flesh.

Casual coco frio on the side of the street

Being back in Barranquilla, I slipped straight into my old routines and felt quite quickly that I’d never want to leave. But as my ten days flew by, London and it’s grey but homely skies were calling. I’ll always have a bit of my heart tied to Colombia’s coast, and now will aim to head back more often. In the meantime, I’ll be looking to recreate some Barranquillero recipes in my Brixton kitchen, so stay posted!

“Quien lo vive es quien lo goza” – offical phrase of Barranquilla carnival

Chicken, sage & mustard bake, a quick midweek supper

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After I satisfied last weekend’s craving for some fried chicken livers (fried in a little butter, with red onion and fresh sage), said sage was left lurking in the fridge. As is often the way with fresh herbs, it’s quite hard to get through a big bunch of the stuff before it starts to wallow and wilt away.

Determined to use all of my 90p bunch of sage, I rustled up a mid-week supper; a chicken tray bake with sage, mustard and lemon, on top of sweet potato and red onion. I posted this dinner on BidmeadBites’s Instagram and it received several likes and some recipe requests.

chicken tray

Ever obliging to my lovely followers, here is the recipe. I used a half chicken which I had jointed it into four pieces. If the idea of jointing a chicken is daunting, you’d do well to watch this video here (thanks to a very retro Delia Smith).

Buying and eating a whole bird is not only cheaper, but more flavoursome – this tray bake includes not just plump breast, but dark meaty thighs and wings to chow down on too. However, if you find yourself buying some pre-prepped thighs and drumsticks, that will work equally as well here.

Ingredients:
– half chicken, jointed into four parts (equivalent to three thighs and two drumsticks)
– 2 medium-size sweet potatoes
– 2 red onions
– 1 lemon
– 2 tbsp runny honey
– 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
– 4 tbsp olive oil
– Generous pinch of salt
– 2 tsp ground black pepper
– 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
– Handful of fresh sage, leaves only, leaves cut in half

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slices about 2 cm thick. Peel and quarter the two red onions
2. Place potato and onion on the base of your baking tray, and place chicken on top.
3. In a jar, or anything you can give a good shake to, mix honey, mustard, olive oil, Worcester sauce, salt, pepper and sage (reserve 4 or 5 for the end).  Squeeze in the lemon, leaving the halves somewhat intact to be halved again and nestled into the corners on the tray.
4. Pour this lovely paste over the tray, massaging it into the chicken and making sure the veg get some saucy action too.
5. Give a good grind of black pepper and an extra pinch of salt on top, sprinkling the spare sage leaves on top and add one more splash of Worcester sauce.
6. Place tray in now heated oven for 40 minutes, giving it a jig around half way through, distributing some of the sauce that will have gathered at the bottom of the tray over the top of the chicken.

I served this with boiled Italian farro, which is a grain similar to barley, and some steamed green veg. It’d go nicely with a fresh green salad too, with a nice chunky loaf of bread to soak up the sauce.

 

Dinner for 80?

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Colombia is a country of contrasts. Hot Caribbean beaches, deep, dense jungles and cold, steep mountain ranges. African-influenced music such as champeta plays next to the indigenous music bambucco, with some modern day reggaeton thrown in the mix too. While these are differences to be celebrated, Colombia also possesses less desirable contrasts, such as the stark comparison between the rich and the poor.

Thankfully, there are many charities within the country working to help change the situation of millions of families who live in poverty. One such organisation is TECHO, who work to provide emergency housing for families living in sub-standard housing conditions.

I’ve already written about some of the work I have done with TECHO here, and my most recent experience was the task of feeding 80 hungry volunteers during a weekend of construction with four families in Puerto Colombia, down by the beach here in Barranquilla.

I had to provide two breakfasts and one dinner and my job involved planning the menu, managing the budget, buying the food and of course…cooking it all too! Another volunteer and I worked together to achieve this mammoth task. We came up with a menu of well-loved Colombian classics, two of which I’ll share with you all today.

The breakfast on the first day was huevos pericos served alongside bread rolls. This is a classic Colombian breakfast dish and is a quick, easy and nourishing option that is just a tad more exciting than your everyday scrambled eggs recipe.

Spice up your scrambled eggs with the recipe here below!

Eggs for 80

Huevos Pericos (serves 4)

Ingredients
– 6 eggs
– 3 finely chopped tomatoes
– 2 tablespoons olive oil (replace one of these with butter if you like your eggs a bit richer)
– 2 strands of spring onion, finely chopped
– Salt to taste

Method
1) Add in oil (and butter if using) to the pan while it heats up. Once the pan is warm, add in chopped onions and watch and stir until the start they change color.
2) Add in chopped tomatoes with a good pinch of salt. Stir around with onions for about 5 minutes, until tomatoes are looking cooked but not mushy.
3) Now crack eggs straight into the pan and mix around, and when starting to scramble turn off heat. Stir around a bit more, but don’t let them dry up – runny eggs are best!

This can be served with some chopped coriander stirred through, or sprinkled on top.

Breakfast on the second day was a very traditional dish called cayeye – boiled guineos (smaller, green plantains) mashed up with butter, salt and cheese. Added suero (a kind of sour cream) is optional, indulgent and completely recommended! Sadly, in the sheer mayhem of boiling 80 bananas and grating over 5 kilograms of cheese (all before 5:30 am this is), I forgot to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say this is one breakfast dish you should try!

Ingredients for Cayeye – photo credit not my own, taken from food catering company aldimark

Breakfasts done, what’s for dinner? The much-loved Colombian dish arroz con pollo (chicken and rice).  Tackling such a classic dish, I did my research talking to various mums/grandmas/cleaners and cooks in order to get their top tips. Everyone has their own little tricks for making this dish, and here is a compilation of those pearls of wisdom to help you try your hand at this classic Colombian eat.

Arroz con Pollo (serves 4)

Ingredients 
– 250 g (1 cup) of white rice
– Stock cube of chicken stock
– 3 cloves on garlic, chopped
– A fair bit of salt (various pinches, we will say)
– Trisazon spice (now I doubt this is hanging around in Tesco. It’s basically a mix of cumin, garlic, paprika and red colouring. Use these 4 and you should be good!)
– 1 teaspoon tomato puree
– 3 carrots, grated
– Half a bunch of coriander, chopped, with some leaves reserved for serving
– 1 green pepper, cut into small cubes
– 1 red pepper, cut into small cubes
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 large onion, finely chopped
– 2 chicken breasts

Method

1) First cook the chicken. Place breasts in a pot with the first 3 chopped cloves of garlic, the stock cube, and cover with water until all of the chicken is submerged. Boil for about 30 minutes until the breasts are cooked through, and remove chicken to cool on a plate but reserve this chicken stock (you will use it to cook your rice).

2) Now, in the water you cooked the chicken in, you’re going to cook your rice, adding in the grated carrot for colour. Make sure there is exactly twice as much water as you have rice – if you haven’t got enough chicken-y water for your rice, add in more plain water. Likewise, if you’ve too much water, drain some out. Simple!

3) While the rice is cooking, shred your chicken breasts with two forks. Save aside, and crack on with the veg.

4) Cook onion in a separate pan until it starts to take a golden colour and then add in peppers. Add salt and spices and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes, and then add in tomato puree.  Add in shredded chicken, chopped coriander and give a good stir for about 1-2 minutes.

5) Checking your rice is nice and cooked (about 20-25 mins), it’s time to mix it all up! Add cooked chicken and veg to rice, stir it all up and taste. A bit pale looking? Try a squirt of tomato ketchup! Not feeling flavorsome enough? Add some more spices. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander, and enjoy.

Arroz con pollo is a great feed-a-crowd dish, and if I managed it for 80, this recipe for four should be a breeze!

Overall, the weekend was a tough, long, but unforgettable experience. It was my third time participating in a construction with TECHO, and it never ceases to amaze me how in just two days the lives of families can be transformed so positively. So after you’ve hit the kitchen to cook up these two Colombian classics, please also take the time to read up about TECHO and the work it does across Latin America.

Until next time, where BidmeadBites takes a brief holiday away…stay tuned to find out where to!

In the Kitchen with Juanmi – making Ajiaco

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It’s safe to say since arriving here in Colombia, I’ve tried my fair share of comida colombiana. However, my interest in food isn’t limited to just the eating part – I absolutely love cooking it too! After trying so many new and delicious things, I felt inspired to start cooking up some Colombian food of my own.

But could I, a newcomer to Colombian cuisine, do it any justice? What chance did any arepa or empanada of mine have against that of an abuelita who has spent many years perfecting her secret recipes? Fear not, because help is at hand. Today’s blog post is a special one, as it features a very important guest…les presento a Juanmi.

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The famous Juan Miguel, chef and eater extraordinaire

Since I arrived in Barranquilla, I have been living with two very wonderful people. Sara, originally from Canada, has been living in Colombia for the past 13 years. She is married to Juan Miguel (Juanmi), who is from Cartagena, just an hour and a half away from Barranquilla.

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A typical Juanmi made lunch – carne desmechada (slow-cooked shredded beef), rice with noodles and fried plantain. Mmm!

Juan Miguel loves to cook. When coming in after a long day, I am almost always greeted with a new and delicious dinner, and living with them has been a great insight into Colombian cuisine. Did you know that the burnt rice at the bottom of the pan (cucayo) is actually a delicacy here? Or that if you cook up pineapple skin with pasta, it makes a delicious thick and creamy drink (chicha)? These are just some of the things Juanmi has taught me, as well as the recipe I’m about to share with you today.

As mentioned in my first post from Barranquilla, ajiaco is a traditional soup originating from the capital, Bogotá. It also turned out to be one of Juanmi’s specialties, which he was more than willing to share with me. A comforting garlic, coriander and chicken broth is thickened by a mix of 3 different potatoes types. Topped with a dash of cream and the very tangy flavors of capers, the final addition of avocado adds to the creamy comfort of this dish. With those cold winter months approaching in the UK, warm yourself up by bringing some Colombian flavor into your home. This should make enough for about 6-8 people, so invite your friends round and get cooking!

Ingredients
– 3 Chicken breasts, skin removed
– 250ml water
– 3 fresh corn on the cob, each cob cut in half
– Salt and pepper to taste
– 2 chicken stock cubes
– 1 onion, finely chopped.
– 1 green pepper, finely chopped
– 4 garlic cloves, minced
– A large handful of coriander, stalks included
– 250g new baby potatoes (papas criollas here)
– 2 large ‘normal potatoes’ (imagine jacket potatoes)
– 2 large red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/6ths
– 2 tbsp dried guasca (a key ingredient for the soup, this Colombian herb might be hard to find in your local Sainsbury’s. Fear not: after extensive research, it seems that a mixture of crushed bay leaves and parsley will substitute. Hurray!)
– Drizzle of double cream for each serving
– 1 tsp capers for each serving
– 1 avocado, cut into quarters lengthways (one slice per serving, or more because it’s just delicious).

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Method
1) Firstly, get your water on the boil and add the chicken stock, salt and pepper. Then, add in your chopped vegetables, coriander and chicken breasts. Cook this all on a gentle simmer for a little more than half an hour, and when chicken breast is cooked through, remove from stock and keep aside.
2) Strain out all the onion, pepper and coriander, and bring stock back to heat. Now add your chopped potatoes, guasca (or bayleaf/parsley substitute) and corn.
3) Shred your chicken with a fork, and return to heat.
4) Your delicious soup is now ready! Serve each portion in a deep bowl, making sure each serving has a portion of corn. Top with some thick heavy cream, and a teaspoon of capers per bowl. Add in a slice of avocado, and more coriander to garnish if you desire.

This is actually meant to be served with rice as well, but I found it amazingly filling as it was! Should you feel extra hungersome, by all means serve it up on the side.

This soup is like a big warm hug in a bowl. The mixture of flavours works so well and serves a crowd perfectly. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out, and keep on reading to stay up to date with my culinary conquests here in Colombia.

A berry, berry good loaf

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I always think you can’t go wrong with a loaf cake. Some of the best and most classic of cakes lend themselves brilliantly to this bread-like shaped bar of deliciousness. Lemon drizzle loaf anyone? Slice of banana bread? Perhaps a carrot cake loaf? I’ll take all three.

The great Nigel Slater was not wrong when he said ‘There is something elegant and timeless about a slice of plain cake’, but sometimes you want to mix things up. Starting with a classic lemon drizzle loaf, I wanted something equally as moist and lemony, but perhaps with more fruit, and why not throw in some chocolate while we’re at it…

Low and behold the Lemon Yogurt Poppyseed Loaf, with summer berries and a white chocolate drizzle.


It is a real beauty, and pretty darn simple to make too. I’ve adapted the recipe from Red Magazine’s website and you can see the original here. My version uses more ground almonds and less flour, and more yogurt instead of oil – this is the trick for a really sumptuous moist bake in my opinion. You don’t have to buy expensive fresh berries, and I was very pleased to find some of these hiding in my freezer…

For £2 you get about twice as many berries frozen as you do fresh and after 20 seconds at full whack in the microwave they defrost pretty perfectly (careful though, too long and you end up with berry sauce – a mistake I’ve previously made).

For this loaf of loveliness, you will need:

Lemon Yogurt Poppyseed loaf

Ingredients:

– 150g plain flour
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 90 ground almonds
– 175g caster sugar
– 200ml natural yogurt
– 50ml sunflower oil
– 3 medium eggs
– Zest and juice of 2 lemons
– 25g poppy seeds
– 75g white chocolate
– 150g berries

Method:

1) Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder, caster sugar, poppy seeds and lemon zest in a bowl.

2) Separately, in a large jug (or blender if your lazy like me) combine the yogurt, eggs, oil and lemon juice.

3) Now combine the dry ingredients mixed in your bowl well into the wet mixture in your jug and pour into your loaf tin (which you will have greased already, naturally).

4) Pop this into the oven for 40 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.

5) Once out of the oven, leave out to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, then take out of the tin and leave for a further 10 minutes. Now comes the fun bit – berry placing and white chocolate drizzling!

6) Melt your white chocolate in the microwave and then…drizzle away. I like using a small dessert fork as you instantly get three little drizzles going on at once, but a knife does pretty much the same job.

7) After one layer of drizzle, pop on your berries- the melted white chocolate should help them stick. Then, just because it’s so much fun, drizzle again!

And there you have it. A very simple recipe for a stunning cake which is sure to be a hit with everyone…


So much so it hardly lasted a second in my home!