This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Cartagena de Indias is a bustling city with a rich and diverse culinary culture. It has something to whet the appetite of gourmets and street food aficionados alike. Gastronomic tour of the pearl of the Caribbean.
Fruit everywhere, all the time
At almost every street corner, there are vendors selling coconut drinks and mountains of fruit. Whole, cut or in freshly squeezed juice, the fruits of Colombia are so fragrant that they delight us from breakfast to early morning. There are also women in colorful clothes who carry bowls of fruit on their heads. The French-speaking guide Ester Olivo, from Voyageurs du monde, a tour operator specializing in tailor-made stays, explains that they are from San Basilio de Palenque, a refuge village south of Cartagena created by fugitive slaves at the time of the slavery. It is also recognized as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO.
Getsemani, darling
Bohemian and eclectic, the Getsemani district is a pearl, as the nickname of the city suggests. This is where the family restaurant, La Cocina de Pepina, owned by the late chef Maria Josefina Yances Guerra, is located. We eat his homemade recipes, typical of Cordoba, the province south of Cartagena. To taste it all, we opt for the starter of nine small dishes, including tender aubergines, ceviche in creamy avocado sauce and a delicious fiber of res, a thin slice of slow-cooked beef, drizzled with olive oil, and garnished with capers and pickled onions. Special mention to mongo-mongo, a fruit-based dessert, such as pineapple, mango and guava, cloves, allspice and hot pepper, stewed for 48 hours. It’s sweet like fruit paste, with a slight spicy note.
The restaurant-laboratory
Renowned restaurant Celele, also in Getsemani, made the list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2019. In fact, it’s also the Caribbean coast ingredient research lab of chefs Jaime Rodriguez Camacho and Sebastian Pinzon Giraldo. Back in the kitchen, they design extraordinary dishes, such as a crab entrée from the La Boquilla community, flavored with lactofermented mandarins, lemon mayonnaise, sapote chutney — a local fruit from a tree in the same family as the argan tree —, marinated green papaya, chives, coriander oil, covered with hibiscus petals, then served with corn chips flavored with corozo salt, a fruit endemic to the region.
The Boquilla
Accompanied by the guide, Ester Olivo, we sail aboard a canoe through the mangrove which is home to fish and shellfish in abundance. The boatmen know all about the red, black and white mangroves that border their community, and they protect the mangroves with care. Back at the dock, we refresh ourselves with freshly cut coconut water, watching the neighborhood dance troupe dance beautifully.
Our collaborator was the guest of Voyageurs du monde.