The first time I tried this dish was about three weeks after I arrived in Medellín. Already, I had been asked many times by my students if I had tried it yet. My first thought when I saw the dish was that it was A LOT of food. I shared the plate with my roommate, who is also a Fulbright scholar working at my university. Even between the two of us, we were barely able to finish the entire plate. What I enjoy the most about the bandeja paisa is the wide variety of foods included, so you are able to try a little bit of many different Colombian foods in just one dish.
Because the dish has many different components, they are all cooked separately and then served together on a big plate. Most Colombians I have talked to say they do not make this at home because of how much cooking and preparation is involved, so it is most common for people to eat bandeja paisa at traditional restaurants. Often, it is served with a juice made from local fruits or a tinto, which is a small black coffee.
Each of the foods in this dish is connected somehow to Colombian history. To avoid boring you too much, I will focus on a few foods that I find particularly interesting.
Arguably the most important is the arepa. This is a small flat piece of dough made from corn flour and water cooked on a stovetop or grilled (imagine a tortilla, but thicker). Colombians and Venezuelans both claim to have originated the arepa, but arepas are eaten a little differently in each country.
