Exotic fruits and glorious juice

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Fruit here in Colombia is really quite something.  Lulo, nispero, zapote, granadllia, uchuva...ring any bells? These are just some of the new fruits I've discovered during my time here.

Sliced up and eaten as snacks, served as toppings for breakfast or as parts of delicious desserts, the sheer variety of fruit here means there is no excuse not to be filling up on these vitamin-rich, natural sweet treats. Or, why not drink up the wonderful array of fruits at one of the various fruteras around the city?
Just check out the frito selection here at Los Compadres. No fruit or veg to be seen, but that's where the juices come in!
Fruteras here sell not only delicious juices, but also offer up those tasty and much loved fritos. Empandascarimañolas, deditos, arepas, patacones...essentially just an awful lot of very delicious (and very beige) food. Here is a quick rundown of some of my favourite fruteras so far.

Frutera Los Compadres (Calle 74 entre Carreras 46 y 47)

Los Compadres sauce collection - gucamole, garlic, various chilli sauces : they've got it all. 
Perhaps one of the most famous fruteras in Barranquilla, Los Compadres has a firm fan following, and is visited as much by busy workers in the morning as it is by tired and tipsy party goers at night. The range of fritos is immense, and I'm slowly working my way through them all. I also like that here you can buy portions of flavoured rice, which invariably come with either meat or chicken.

Frutera El Compadre (Calle 79 y Calle 76)

When my sister came to visit, I felt it only right to introduce her to the wonders of fruteras, and so together we headed to El Compadre, another famous spot in the city. I opted for some meat empanadas and she went for the classic dedito (cheese finger) and a little baked spinach pastry. We washed down our snacks with some delicious and exotic juices en leche (with milk). The brown juice is nispero, which has a distinctly nutty flavour, and the pink juice is zapote, which I believe tastes like a mix between carrot and strawberry...but really it's unlike anything else I've tried before!

Zapote juice (left), nispero juice (right), with my sister's veggie goods on the left and my meat-filled goodness on the right.

Frutera Fruticao (Calle 93 Carrera 49c)

And I remember the days when freshly squeezed orange juice seemed like a treat!
A lot of fruteras prepare their juices in advance to have them ready for order, but at Frutticao they make them as you order, meaning you can skip the enthusiastic servings of extra sugar often added. You also have the option of different types of milk (they haven't quite reached the soya option yet, but skimmed is on offer). Serving only a few fritos, this place is really all about the juice, and as you can see from the list below - there's quite the selection to choose from.

Fruteras are the perfect place to stop for a quick juice and bite to eat, at all hours of the day. I continue on the quest to find the best spot in the city, although mixed opinions may have me searching a long time!

Enough fritos, give me that green

Monday, February 9, 2015

Colombian food, while delicious, could hardly be praised for its health giving properties. I love myself some deep fried fish and plantain as much as the next person, but it's definitely not food to be eaten every day. And for those days when I'm feeling a little greener than others, Barranquilla has a surprisingly wide range of healthy-eat places to choose from.
A delicious bali salad bowl, with cabbage, beansprouts, grated carrot and onion, shredded chicken breat, served in a burrito bowl, next to a very refreshing carrot and ginger juice.
Gokela (Calle 84 Cra 55) is a chain with restaurants in Cartagena and Bogota, and thankfully has also touched down in Barranquilla. Almost like a healthier Subway but with far more options, it offers sandwiches, wraps, salads, rice bowls (like this delicious one pictured above), as well as healthy sweet treats and a great range of juices.
Healthy pancakes topped with peanut butter and strawberry
Basil ( 51B#82-100 Palmas Mall) describes itself as a 'gourmet healthy restaurant', and also has its own health food store attached. Offering dishes such as ceviche, quinoa sushi and protein 'cake', it caters to the health-conscious Colombian while also providing interesting and flavoursome dishes. I went with a friend for breakfast and chose these cracking pancakes made with oat and coconut flour mixed with chia seeds, and I topped them with peanut butter and strawberries. A great combo and a brilliant way to start the day.

My green energy juice. Like a coffee, just a bit green
Aswell as an incredible array of fruit juices, in Barranquilla you can also grab some great green veggie juices, found at Freshii (Carrera 53 # 76-279). This was a ‘green energy' juice: apple, cucumber, lime, carrot, lettuce and spinach. Refreshing, full of goodness and a nice change from the quite often overly sweet fruit juices found here. Their menu also has great vegetarian and gluten-free food, and you can get good offers on selected dishes of the day, costing under 10,000 pesos.

Eating healthily, you'll live longer...good thing chocolate and sweets are all part of a balanced diet! 
With all this healthy food around, Barranquilla proves itself to be the best of both worlds. A great place to enjoy the best of typical costeño food, you can also get your veggie/health food fare whenever you want it. So have your tres leches cake and eat it, with a bit of healthy green on the side.

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