Ben Box - Travellers Cookbook: South America

At Bradt Guides were aware that books start to go out of date on the day theyre published and that you, our readers, are out there in the field doing research of your own. So why not tell us about your experiences? Contact us on 01753 893444 or . Alternatively, you can add a review of the book to Amazon, or share your cooking photos with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (@BradtGuides).

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

In 1981 I was working as a subeditor and proofreader on the South American Handbook (published at that time by Trade and Travel Publications, which later went on to become Footprint Travel Guides). In those days, the Handbook was not very effusive in its restaurant descriptions and, as a true disciple of the brand, nor was I. This is the report of my very first lunch in South America, on Tuesday 1 September 1981, Cartagena, Colombia: Ate lunch at the Nautilus fish restaurant (fabulous menu, with photos of the submarine and the crewmens signatures). Good food (814 pesos for two of us). The Handbook said: Nauticus [sic], in the old wall of the city, facing the statue of La India Catalina, excellent seafood, good value.

Three days later Sarah Cameron and I were based in Medelln. On a guided tour of nearby tourist sites, we stopped for lunch at the Parador Tequendamita, near La Ceja, by a small, picturesque waterfallWe had typical antioquea food, which was very dry (beans, minced meat, rice, patacn, arepa, chicharrn) and pudding we were very touristic and left all the mazamorra (maize in milk) a bit more detail than on Nautilus, but neither very enthusiastic nor kind to tourists. Afterwards we continued to Rionegro, which has outskirts of sumptuous fincas de recreo (country estates) and workers clubs. The town is growing and will grow even more when a new Medelln airport is completed nearby.

Colombia is known for its vast array of excellent fruits SS

Fast forward to 9 November 2018, to the most recent meal that I had in South America, also in Colombia, at the Ro Claro Reserva Natural between Medelln and Bogot. My report was as clipped as ever: Food in the restaurant is good; open kitchen for all to see whats being cooked.

After lunch, the group of birdwatchers I was with loaded our gear into a bus and headed back to the now fully functional Rionegro airport for a flight to Bogot. A landslide after torrential rain had to be cleared from the road, causing a last, frantic dash to catch the plane.

Rionegro, at the time of writing, marks almost full circle in my South American travels. Those brief descriptions in no way represent an entire careers worth of eating in South America. Whether one lovingly records every detail of every dish, or concisely records the what, where and how much, I, like every traveller, know that food is a hugely important part of ones journey.

For travellers, food serves a number of purposes: at its most simple level it sustains you on the road, from breakfast before setting out on a long day, to the produce bought in the local market for a meal in the hostel kitchen; from a bag of mandarins and a packet of Oreos for the bus journey to a fine dinner in a fashionable restaurant.

Food is the uniting factor between vendor and buyer in the panadera, between people eating together, between cook and diner. It is the stuff of celebration, from exuberant cakes in the pastry shop window to an