COLOMBIANS AND THE LAND

 

If I must be negative I prefer to do so in the beginning. Pull the stinger out and then apply the ice. Colombia is thus far one of the few countries of which I find the food unremarkable. Maybe because I was told to set my expectations low, I found even the dishes in Cuba more appealing. Of course, in certain countries where the local cuisine is beyond the point (Canada comes to mind), I have no memory to compare. Be that as it may, Colombia has on the whole left me unimpressed in its culinary aspect.

Quindio, the area I travelled through, is known for its chorizo and I like a good chorizo, but I failed to find one that was not bland. If anything I found the chicharron in these parts a superior component of the bandeja paisa dish.

Instead, what stole my heart in Colombia is the relationship between the people and the land. Agriculture is the pulse of the nation and her people have come, out of necessity, to value the earth. In many ways Colombia is a global example of the proper use of the land. There is an earnestness and a felt acknowledgement of the delicate balance in taking from nature.

In recent years, as it pushes to attract more international tourists and as its foreign-born population grows, diversity in food establishments continues to grow.

In Filandia I visited one of the best Italian restaurants anywhere, Altavista Food Factory, situated next door to an innovative pizzeria Ornella Cono Pizzas, both owned by Enzo Billotti, the son of Italian immigrants and a most hospitable restaurateur. Finally, if you visit Colombia you will not be able to help running into a Frisby, a national fast food chain specializing in fried chicken virtually interchangeable with Pollo Campero which is found throughout Latin America and has how spread to other continents. 

In Circassia we ate at Señor Wok, a Colombian chain offering standard Chinese food, featuring an archaic caricature of a Chinese farmer bearing a coned hat as its mascot, an image that would rattle customers in the contemporary United States. Such imagery is common in Latin America, however, particularly in Asian restaurants but signs of resistance to changes seen up north are evident elsewhere throughout Colombia. For instance, in local markets I was surprised to see Aunt Jemima, in both name and image, still adorning syrup bottles and pancake mix. I say surprised because in 2020, Nestle changed the name and logo of one of its Colombia exclusive products, a chocolate covered marshmallow called "Beso de Negra", translating to "Kiss of a Black Woman". 

For the last thirty years, however, the  focus of Colombians, it will be observed, is in their own nation, racial politics of the West remaining thus far an abstract problem aside from immigration.

Throughout my time there our driver spoke proudly of his stepson now living in Oklahoma where he landed a job as a chef, though when I heard the salary the young man was making my heart sank, even considering the lower cost of living in Oklahoma as compared to Boston. My driver was hoping to make a trip to the States soon to visit him but explained to me the difficulty in obtaining a tourist visa and the financial burden such a trip would cost him.

But our driver is a Colombian and he has in him the spirit of a nation that has consistently picked itself up, strengthening its citizens to a degree as tough as the land that has provided its livelihood.