Empanadas ​Food

Tuesday, September 5

Like in every country we visit, Christoph and I were once again looking for delicious street food. This time in Medellín, Colombia! However, since we lived in a fairly quiet residential area in Medellín, this search turned out to be quite difficult. After a few days we came across a small restaurant that had no doors and was open to the street (therefore counting as a street food stall), where a lovely Colombian grandma was frying dough.

And because there is nothing better than food cooked by a grandma, we stopped straight away and ordered a few of the deep-fried snacks. In the glass display case in front of us were various types of freshly fried Colombian empanadas. For anyone who has never heard of empanadas: Empanadas are small dumplings usually filled with meat and vegetables that are then baked. In Spain and many Latin American countries, empanadas are a popular snack.

So we sat down and were served the empanadas we ordered. After the first bite, we noticed that the Colombian empanadas were completely different than we expected. We already knew and loved Peruvian empanadas and were kind of expecting a similar version but as it turned out Colombian empanadas differ from empanadas from Peru, Bolivia or Argentina primarily in that the dough is not made from wheat flour but from corn flour and that the empanadas are not baked in the oven but fried directly in fat. The empanadas here in Medellín were different than expected, but still delicious! What was particularly great was the large selection of homemade chili sauces, which the lovely empanada grandma was also very proud of. So if you’re looking for a tasty though not so light snack, you should definitely try the Colombian empanadas!