Many of my students here ask me if I like Colombian food and what dishes I have tried. One of the first questions I am asked regularly is if I have tried bandeja paisa. Many Colombians would agree that this is one of the most representative dishes of the Antioquia region (in northwestern Colombia), of which Medellín is the capitol. The bandeja paisa is a very large dish with many different foods, which represent the many different cultural influences in Colombia.
The bandeja paisa is a very large plate of food that has red beans, rice, chicharrón (fried pork rinds), ground beef, chorizo (sausage), morcilla (blood sausage), fried egg, fried ripe plantain, avocado and arepa (which is like a small, thick, corn-flour tortilla). The dish is served on a large plate called a bandeja. "Paisa" is the word used to describe anyone or anything from the department of Antioquia in Colombia, much like how we use "Midwestern" or "Midwesterner." (A department is similar to a state or province.) The name of this dish basically means "large plate from Antioquia". You can see it listed as the lunch special of almost every restaurant that serves Colombian food from this region.
