Pass me the Malbec and serve me some steak - Bidmead's back in Buenos Aires!

Sometimes the best things are last minute, like my impromptu and completely spontaneous decision to head back to my beloved Buenos Aires on a stop home from Colombia. I spent a year living in the Argentine capital while studying Spanish at Leeds and since my departure two years ago I have always been keen to come back.

Somewhere in the North of Argentina, two years ago

Despite having always liked food, I have Argentina to thank for really turning a like into a love. While opinions on Argentine food are mixed - "their pizza sucks!", "what the fuck is a milanesa?" and "do they have to put dulce de leche in eveeeerything?!", food in this country plays a big part in its history and culture.

The Argentine asado (barbecue) is much more than just a meal. The slow cooking meat, friends gathered together sipping on red wine and nibbling on chorizo sandwiches, awaiting the various cuts of beef, pork and whatever other goodness they have grilling on the parilla...the whole experience is enough to make a vegetarian eat meat just to be a part of this culturally important (and above all delicious), meaty affair.

BA - it's good to be back!

For my first night back in the city what better dinner option than a whole asado in one plate? We headed to La Hormiga in Palermo, which is part of a group of restaurants in the city that offer great food at great prices - other recommended restaurants in this group are Las Cabras (mainly meat) and Cumana (regional cuisine). This mixed parilla dish from La Hormiga is a great way to get the asado experience while dinging out in a restaurant. Featuring a juicy bife de chorizo, grilled veggies, squash mash and some tasty grilled provoleta (typical Argentine cheese), this is a dish that has it all. One to share, it was the perfect welcome back into Buenos Aires.

Looking to relive all my favorite foodie moments in the city, the next night I returned to El Nono Amigo, a tiny deli on the corner of where I used to live. El Nono serves some seriously good picadas (mixed platters with cured meat and cheese), but this place became a favourite for me due to its empanandas, different from any others I had tried in the city.

If I could marry an empananda...artichoke, it's you and me all the way.

Just check out the selection! Of course the Argentine classics of carne and jamon y queso will inevitably feature, but look to the far more interesting aubergine and artichoke options and you'll see why I am such a fan. Cooked al horno, I prefer these beige bundles of goodness far more than the fried Colombian equivalent. I'm sorry Colombia...I still love you, I promise.

Aubergine, meat and artichoke empanandas. Not a boring old ham and cheese option in sight!

What better way to wash down these tasty empanadas than with a bottle of Malbec? Back at one of my favourite places, with my artichoke empananadas and bottle of red, I felt truly back in the bosom of my old home.

Not the first bottle of my 10 day trip, and ceeeeertainly not the last!

By no means the end of my foodie adventures back in Arg, be prepared for many a steak and new blog post to come! Peruvian lunches with hearty (literally) dishes abound, smoked and fried chicken wings in a meat feast that touch my soul and some exciting new steak house discoveries feature in my food-filled and fun packed ten day trip back to BA. So keep reading and stay tuned, as this is just the beginning!

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. 

Note to self - do not eat endangered animals

Despite travelling extensively throughout Colombia, there are a few spots that always pull me back. Cartagena, just an hour and a half away from Barranquilla, is certainly one of the places. A top tourist destination, its old city is a UNESCO world heritage site and its nearby islands are home to some of the countries most pristine beaches. A friend recently visited from Buenos Aires and when I asked what he wanted to do, the response was clear. "Beach, beach and lots of sun". Coming to visit me on the Caribbean coast, he was in luck! We headed to Cartagena for a few days to soak up some rays and naturally, food held an important part in the holiday. 

Isla Grande, one of the Rosario islands off the coast of Cartagena

We began our trip by setting off for a nights stay on a group of islands known as the Islas del Rosario, about 45 minutes away from Cartagena by boat. Made up of various small islands, we stayed on Isla Grande and were treated to two days of gorgeous sun and completely unspoiled beaches.

Lobster lunching on Isla Grande

The hotel we were staying at had delicious food, however it was rather on the fancy side. We decided to venture away from the hotel and explore the island, home to around 800 permanent residents. We got chatting to a local fisherman who showed us some very impressive freshly caught lobsters, which soon became our lunch! They came cooked al ajillo, in a garlic marinade and grilled, served with patacones (fried plantain slices). The lobster was flavorsome beyond belief - completely fresh and cooked to perfection. 

(Property of the Travel Chanel)

Like many other food-lovers, I hold the chef Anthony Bourdain is extremely high esteem. The author of the Kitchen Confidential, a fascinating insight into the world of restaurants and well worth a read for any foodies, he is also the star of his own show No Reservations, where he travels the world trying typical (and sometimes not so typical) foods in many different countries. The clip above is a section from the No Reservations Colombia episode and if you skip to 4 minutes in you can see Bourdain at Cartagena's very own Bazurto Market. 

The famous Cecilia's, with a glimpse of the woman herself

Be warned - Bazurto is no trendy pop-up style food market. It's a chaotic, dirty, loud and rather smelly place, but if you want to see the real Cartagena, this is where to come. I previously visited with my sister and enjoyed it so much I decided to head back with my friend. While he seemed slightly overwhelmed by it all (seeing a chicken being boiled while a van full of soldiers with machine guns rocked up was perhaps slightly unsettling), we headed off in search of the famous Cecilia's, as featured in Bourdain's No Reservations episode. 

Stewed turtle, served with coconut rice, yucca, sweet plantains and salad

When I had visited previously, Cecilia's famous turtle wasn't an option, but returning I was spoiled for choice - fried, stewed or grilled, turtle seemed to be the top meal of the day. In his No Reservations episode, Bourdain himself states that turtle is endangered, but that its consumption has been part of the indigenous culture for hundreds of years. Upon reflection, although this was completely delicious, with a dark, rich flesh and a perfectly seasoned coconut vegetable sauce, eating an endangered species should never be condoned. Even if locals around me were choosing it, as a foreigner I shouldn't be encouraging this practice. As a unique experience, it was definitely interesting to try this local dish, even if I will not be doing so again (I promise!).

Relaxing on Playa Blanca, Baru island

After the sights and smells of Bazurto market, it was back to the beach for another day of relaxation before we headed across the coast to Santa Marta, another one of my regular haunts. It's a tough job all this travelling and gastronomical exploration, but I guess someone has to do it. Stay tuned for another travel post which sees me return to perhaps my favorite spot in all of Colombia, its salsa capital Cali.

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!