Penis, balls and a bit of heart for good measure - more culinary exploration in Cali

The last part of my travels sees me return to what could potentially be my favorite place in Colombia...Cali. I first visited with my sister in January, returned for a weekend in May and managed to squeeze in one last visit before I head back to the UK. Why do I love it so much? Well, Cali is the countries (if not worlds) capital of salsa, the weather is hot, the people are friendly and it's just a lot of bloody fun. They also eat a hell of a lot of meat. What more could an offal-loving salsa enthusiast possibly want?

The very impressive, very meaty fritanga caleña

To begin this meat filled post, I present the fritanga caleña. Not a dish for anyone watching their waistlines, this is some seriously heavy stuff. Eaten at the famous J&J in the iconic and picturesque old barrio of San Antonio, a fritanga is a mix of fried meat and fritos (pasty type goodies). J&J know how to do it right, with this epic basket containing fried beef, morcilla (black sausage), pork rind, lung, plantain, new potatoes, empanadas, marranitas (fried plantain balls with pork) and aborrajados (fried plantain balls with cheese). This much-loved local spot features a bar dedicated to condiments and offers guacamole, three different types of tomato salsa, peanut sauce, tartare, sour cream and salsa verde. How will I ever be satisfied with just ketchup again?

Caldo de pajarilla - Spleen soup

It's highly likely I am so drawn to Cali due to it's affinity for offal, a sentiment I very much share. On a friends recommendation, I headed to the Galeria de Alameda, the place to go for a delicious lunch at an incredible price. I had been told I couldn't leave Cali without trying the typical (and extremely potent) caldo de pajarilla. This essentially translates as 'offal soup' and is a stew featuring kidney, heart, liver and...spleen. This soup is pretty robust and makes for a hearty and heavy midday meal. Whether I actually liked it is perhaps up for debate. Even for a gut-lover such as myself, I felt the mix of quite so much offal in one dish created 'a too many organs spoil the broth' situation. Oh, that old chestnut!

Bollocks, willy, heart and feet. That'll put hairs on your chest!

But if you thought spleen soup sounded a bit much, perhaps you'd be interested to know about the 'caldo peligroso' as advertised in the sign above. This translates as 'dangerous broth', but for a keen traveler and adventurous foodie such as myself, I couldn't fathom what the danger might be. Chatting to the chef, turns out that this 'dangerous soup' contains bull penis, testicles, heart and feet. She also alluded to it being some sort of aphrodisiac. While I tried to imagine  how eating genitals might get your own private bits somewhat excited, I personally failed to make the link.

The very delicious dish lechona, whole pig stuffed with rice and vegetables

This rather impressive looking stuffed pigs head is known as lechona, a whole pig stuffed with rice, vegetables and spices, slow cooked in a brick oven. This is a dish I've wanted to try for a while and in all places I found it while passing through a shopping centre! Just another reason to love Cali - pop into a shopping centre in search of a loo and find a whole stuffed pig instead. This dish was a perfect combination of textures and flavors, as you get crispy pork skin along with the soft, richly flavored rice dotted with shreds of slow cooked pork. My lechona lunch certainly beat  any other shopping centre food court meal I'd eaten before!

The typical caleño cholao

But what's this? Something that isn't meat? Sometimes Cali's hot, sticky summer days call for something this isn't a fried dead animal, and that is when the very famous cholao fits the bill perfectly. There are various versions and recipes for this typical caleño sweet treat, but, in essence, it features shaved ice, fruit syrup, fresh fruit and a wafer. From there, the sky (or plastic cup's capacity) is the limit. Popular additions include ice cream, chocolate shavings, sweets, dried coconut - your options are endless. 

Leaving Cali for the third time, I was more enamored with the city than ever before (although perhaps feeling ready to eat some vegetables). However, this is something that can wait until my return to the UK, as in a last minute decision I booked myself a flight to my old home of Buenos Aires! Bring on plenty of steak and red wine, along with all the other cuisines Argentina's capital has to offer. 

Tri-border tripping in Leticia

Unbelievably, nearly a year has gone by since I arrived in Colombia to work as an English Language assistant. In a bid to see as much of this wonderful country as I can before I head back to blighty, I headed off traveling again, starting in the capital of Colombia's Amazon, Leticia. An impressive 800km away from the nearest highway, Leticia is unlike any other part of the country I have visited so far and its borders with both Peru and Brasil make a real melting pot of culture. Coming in on the plane from Bogota, all that can be seen for hundreds of miles is thick, dense jungle forest.

Jungle for as far as the eye can see!

Traveling alone, I reached the hostel I had reserved and got chatting with two girls in my dorm, both from the UK. It was around lunchtime and our tummies were rumbling, so we headed off in search of some grub. Leticia holds many exciting culinary options, but perhaps the most exciting option is the fact you can nip into Peru for some fresh ceviche or head on over to Brasil for their typical Brasileiro barbecue. Feeling like something fresh, we jumped in a boat for headed for what is known to be the best ceviche in town.

Why not arrive for all your lunches via boat?

Pulling up to Brisas del Amazonas, the Peruvian music, signs welcoming us to Peru, and piles of fresh ceviche made it clear we had reached the right place. 

We ordered the mixed ceviche to share, and it was a beauty. 

A lunch fit for kings

It came with mussels, prawns, langoustines, fresh crab, white fish (which I must confess I do not know the name of), yucca, sweet potato and delicious salty toasted corn. This between three was perfect, and cost a grand total of eight pounds. Luxury meal, budget price = happy lunch out in Peru.

Always one to try a local delicacy no matter how weird it may be, Leticia presented me with a first - crunchy, salty, insects. Known as mojojoy, these little bugs were actually pretty tasty. Filled with cheese and served alongside farinha (tasty ground up dried yucca with a nutty flavor), these went down a treat.

Fried, buggy cheese-filled goodness

During my stay in the Amazons, I opted for a two-day jungle tour which saw me trekking into the jungle with 9 other travelers, staying a night in a maloca (the home of an indigenous tribe) and one night under a cambuche (a makeshift shelter) in the middle of the jungle. A physically demanding couple of days, it was well worth the torrential rain, tropical heat and hours of walking - if not just for the food alone! This was no mediocre campsite comida - we had some fine meals, featuring whole roasted chickens and enormous fish dinners. 

One of our slap-up jungle meals

I did not imagine the food to be nearly as good as it was and we were all delighted! The meal above features two typical fishes found in the Amazon - the larger two are gamitana, which had a meatier flesh akin to tuna, while the slimmer fish is tucanaré, which was more similar to cod. This all came served with boiled potatoes, rice, salad and a typical cassava pancake with an almost rubber-like texture. While the pancake itself was quite bland, eaten with the fish and salad it was a perfect accompaniment.

Back from the jungle it was nearly time to leave lovely Leticia, but not before I hopped on over to Brasil. Leticia borders Tabatinga, which is part of Brasil. As a town itself Tabitinga hasn't got very much to offer, other than very cheap cachaça and the well-known restaurant Tres Fronteras, which as the name suggests, offers food from each bordering country.

Certainly not the veggie option!

I was fortunately in the company of some very like minded carnivores and we went for the mixed parillada (meat grill). Supposedly feeding two people, this came with chorizo, tripe, chicken breast and thigh, flank steak, tongue and probably about a million other meats I've forgotten to mention. As a side, you get a whole plate of arroz chaufa (Chinese style rice) and boiled potatoes. I sincerely want to meet the couple that defeats this alone...between three we still couldn't finish it!

As the meat coma wore off it was time to head out of the jungle and back into civilization, but not quite back to Barranquilla yet. So stay tuned for some more travel Bidmead Bites, involving some crab in Cartagena and some 'dangerous stew' in Cali...

Goodbye, Leticia - it was a pleasure!