Food markets in Colombia are exciting places to learn about the country.
Wander down aisles where tempting smells jump out at you. On every table you’ll see brightly colored vegetables and fruits that you can’t place a name to. And hidden jewels of odd-shaped vegetables hide in boxes on the floors or at the back of packed shelves.
Delicate exotic flowers are displayed in the cool morning air, women sit on stools weaving baskets or carry a steaming hot soup to a fellow vendor, men with faces beaten by the sun grind fresh corn or wrap up blocks of panela.
Food markets in Colombia do an outstanding job of representing the country. They’re not so much about the fruits and vegetables. Food markets also collect culture, the telltale bits of life that reveal who people are, what they value, and what their daily routine is like.
Yes, food markets anywhere are more than just about the things you can buy; there are hidden secrets in those food markets.
If you come from a country where food markets are no longer an important part of life, you may ask why food markets are important, how to get around Bogota’s largest food market, what can you buy while you’re there. Read on to find out.
Why food markets are important to locals
Where I grew up, we went to supermarkets to get the basics of life. But big chain supermarkets tend to take that personal touch out of the daily or weekly routine of shopping for food and offer national products that look the same in California or Philadelphia. They are places where you can do your shopping with maximum efficiency and minimal contact with other human beings.
Food markets, however, bring vendors from all over rural regions to a town or city to sell their goods. They mostly sell what’s produced in the area; honey from a neighboring town, corn grown in the valley, and fruit grown in the nearby mountains.
I lived for years in small towns in the Andes Mountains. In those areas Saturday was market day, the only day farmers drove into town in their old trucks piled high with vegetables they had picked the day before. Each farmer claimed their spot in the market area – sometimes in a corner of a soccer court, or along the side of a road – and placed baskets packed with vegetables and fruit on the ground or on tables with an alarming (and charming) lack of order.
The trucks would arrive early, well before dawn, and by the time I’d sleepily stumble into the market at 6 am I’d find my neighbors already there, picking over the vegetables and making their last choices of the morning. The vegetables were cheaper, fresher, and came in more variety than I’d find anywhere else in town. I loved my Saturday market.
The most important aspect of food markets
But going to those food markets wasn’t about the food.
It was about the people.
The few words I’d share with the farmer about a vegetable or the weather. The neighbors who would ask about the latest news, share the gossip about how the water reservoir is low, what happened to someone’s cow, or who is sick.
We connected out there in the crisp morning air with the pungent smell of green onions and the dirt that still hung onto the potatoes. Community was strengthened, and we went home with a sack full of vegetables and satisfaction filling our chests.
Why food markets in Colombia are important to visitors
Want to try food as it’s truly eaten in that country? Try having a meal at a food market.
When I enter a market, I immediately get hungry. It’s more about habit, and not just because I didn’t have breakfast before leaving the house. Markets collect people, and crowds of people are hungry, so markets have food that’s fast and easy to eat standing up.
Now, be aware that you may be deeply shocked when you search for something to eat at a food market. These meals are something you won’t find in the restaurants that tourists are often drawn to, and there can be a lot of shock value in simple foods.
Breakfast in Colombia can be a hearty soup with a huge cow hoof sitting in the middle of the broth. Or it can be fried pork rinds or empanadas filled with beef. Or it can be a crazy mix of rice, shredded pork, beans and cheese. Yes, at 6 am.
When I go to a market with my husband, I often eat safe corn flour arepas and scrambled eggs with hot chocolate, something my stomach can handle at that hour of the morning. But my (Colombian) husband delights over a soup with large chunks of beef or half a chicken in it.
How to get the most out of a visit to Paloquemao
Paloquemao is one of the largest food markets in Bogota. They sell both wholesale and retail, and you can buy meats, fish, veggies, fruit, flowers, beans, quinoa, seeds, coffee…and anything else you can think of (and many things you’d never imagined).
A good place to start the morning is at one of the bakeries. The dizzying smell of fresh Colombian breads always leads me to almojabanas, buñuelos, and pan de bono. Accompany it all with a tinto, the traditional way to drink coffee in Colombia, black and sweet. It may not be to your taste, but it is a taste of Colombia.
Or have a full Colombian breakfast. Again, this may take you out of your comfort zone. Caldo is broth with huge chunks of meat in it, or beef hooves or ribs. Yes, for breakfast. A calentao could be described as yesterday’s lunch served up for breakfast – rice, beans, meat, eggs, all mixed together.
The flower selection is more like a flower show. Come early and browse through the flowers that farmers bring in every morning; there’s a huge selection and they’re cheap. The flower vendors are usually gone by 10 am, so don’t be afraid to arrive at dawn.
And it’s the place to not only see but taste fruits you may not have seen before. I love the names. Lulo. Maracuyá. Pitaya. Granadilla. Curuba. Feijao. They are at times odd shaped, often brightly colored, and are generally surprising.
What to buy at a food market in Colombia
The first times I went to Paloquemao I got terribly lost in a labyrinth of meat vendors and egg stalls selling quail and chicken eggs. However, those aren’t the most spectacular places to start if you’ve got just a few hours.
Seek out the fascinating fruit areas, where you can ask one of the vendors to split open a delicious granadilla and eat it on the spot. Visit a juice counter to try those exotic fruits in a juice or in a typical Colombian fruit salad piled high with fruit, cheese, cream, and even ice cream.
What could you buy? You can pick up fresh sugar cane (panela) to sweeten your coffee or to use as a subsitute or white sugar in baking. Vendors will grind your corn fresh so you can make arepas, and they’ll also sell you huge banana leaves that are great for wrapping tamales.
Peppers come in bright colors and varied sizes. And in Colombia root vegetables, such as cubios, take on odd shapes. (Tip: a tasty way to eat cubios is to rub them with oil and roast them in an oven).
After all that exertion, go out to the loading dock beyond the fish section and fuel up with excellent lechona. For as little as $2 a serving you can try lechona tolimense, a typical dish from Tolima, Colombia. They take a whole pig, stuff it with rice and vegetables, sew it up, and oven-roast it for about eight hours. The result is a crunchy toasted skin on the outside and flavorful meat on the inside.
When and where
Website: Paloquemao food market in Colombia
Calle 19 #25-04, Bogota
Monday to Saturday: 4:30 am to 4:30 pm
Sunday and holidays: 5:00 am to 2:30 pm
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Wonderful article Karen! Your writing made the market come alive! I enjoyed it very much!
Thanks so much for that feedback! I hope you can visit that market someday.
That’s a great idea to go on a tour of the local markets so that distinguishing fruit and vegetables, I loved Colombia when I was there but could have done with a bit more info about the markets. Thanks for sharing this with us!