The gastronomy of the Caribbean region of Colombia is a mixture of ingredients and flavors that fuse the culinary traditions of cultures, European, native Indian, African and racially mixed, and includes a variety of typical dishes, beverages and snacks.
Among the most traditional foods of this region are the Sancochos based on fish and seafood, beef and chicken, turtle and goat, and the mondongo, which are accompanied with patacones, corn buns, banana, yucca and coast cheese.
Also noteworthy are the grain soups, such as bean and guandú, and a variety of sea and land dishes.
Caribbean cuisine also includes some exotic foods made with wild game animals, which abound in this part of the country.
It is the most popular dish in the region, which varies in terms of ingredients and the way of preparation according to each area.
Sancochos de costilla y de rabo, de guandú con carne salada, de gallina y de chivo are prepared. The mondongo is another form of sancocho from this region.
There are also fish, seafood and turtle sancochos, bean soup and cheese mote.
Beef is prepared in posta, guisada, asada and puyada. There are also other dishes based on pork.
In this region are very traditional dishes of goat and lamb, as well as wild game meats that include animals such as turtle, monkey, icotea, guartinaja, ñeque, armadillo, pisingo, deer, tapir and saíno.
There is a variety of rice dishes that are accompanied with shrimp, chipi chipi, crab, mullet and bocachico, among others.
These dishes can be accompanied with patacones, corn buns, yucca, banana, coastal cheese and serum atollabuey.
The typical Caribbean cuisine also includes empanadas, arepas de maíz (with egg), carimañolas, friche and quibbes, buñuelos de frijol de cabecita negra, de mazorca and toes de queso. Also the butifarras, the cayeye and the cakes.
The fish and seafood stand out in various preparations such as the mojarra, bocachico, sábalo, pargo, lebranche and sierra. It also prepares the casserole and seafood cocktails, lobsters and oysters.
There is a variety of traditional rum-based drinks. Fresh fruit juices are also very popular: guanabana, corozo, tamarind, zapote, anón, mango, marañón and guayaba.
Also, you drink a lot of panela water with lemon, rice water and corn water.
Among the most popular and traditional desserts and sweets of the region are cocadas costeñas, coconut rice, alegría, enyucado and caballito.
Also very popular are the sweets of icacos, mango, sweet potato, guava or quince and the famous mongo mongo.
The "rasguñaos" sweets, made from legumes and fruits, are other delicacies of Caribbean gastronomy. These typical sweets are generally eaten at Easter.