Take a Tour of Colombian Cuisine in Bogota
Bogota's La Perseverancia Market offers flavors from the Pacific to the Caribbean and everything in between.
La Perseverancia Market combines history and flavor into one delicious destination. Covered in brightly colored murals in the heart of Bogota, it's here that hundreds of chefs cook up time-honored favorites every day of the week.
The range of stalls reflects the stunning variety of Colombian culinary traditions, and it's the ideal place to understand and explore the incredible range of Colombia's cuisine – with many dishes from now-famous chefs that need to be tasted to be believed.
The star of the market, Mamá Luz became a national celebrity after appearing in the Netflix series Street Food Latinoamérica. Her award-winning ajiaco is a delicious first step into Colombian cooking. This Bogota classic is a hearty soup made from potatoes, chicken, corn and guascas (a herb from the dandelion family) that really draws in the crowds.
Doña Maria, who's spent an astonishing 74 years at the market, runs her kitchen with her two daughters and celebrates Colombia’s diversity of landscapes through her cuisine – from snowy peaks to hot jungles, and from the Pacific shores to those of the Caribbean. Opt for her bandeja paisa – a classic dish made from rice, beans, ground beef, chorizo, blood sausage, and pork rind.
Head to Esquina de Mary for a coconut fish soup from Chocó's Pacific coast. Named rompe colchón (‘mattress breaker’), the soup allegedly gives you plenty of energy – enough to break a mattress, if the rumors are to be believed. Energy giving properties aside, the flavor is really something.
Get in touch with our curators and they'll start planning your culinary adventure to Colombia.
Jurriaan Teulings
Jurriaan dreamt of becoming either an astronomer or a circus clown. He became a lawyer instead, but finally found the ultimate fit for his free-range mind as a travel writer and photographer. A Stroopwafel evangelist, he's also won a few awards: two in plexiglass, one in bronze, and one made of beads. The biggest prize: 20 years of travel to all continents and 99 countries so far.
Top image: Bernard Gagnon via Wikimedia Commons; image Mama Luz, courtesy of Tika Palacio; Bandera Paisa and La Preservencia market, courtesy of Netflix.