A Visit to a Colombian Bakery

Discover Some of the Sweet and Savory Treats in a Colombian Bakery

No, it's not really about the sweets, although they do carry some a large array. And they do not sell baguettes or brioche or Italian bread. I don't recall even seeing sliced white bread (pullman style or pain de mie). In fact, many of the breads in a Colombian bakery would seem quite foreign to us in North America; a bread that might take you by surprise by looking like something we might recognize but is surprisingly sweet, or by having some sort of filling that confuses us, or because it is off-putting in some way. From a general standpoint, many sweet offerings are mediocre at best, when compared to their French counterparts. What wouldn't be mediocre when compared to French counterparts?? There are dark cakes that are not chocolate (torta negra), and pound cake spelled ponqué or panqué. Do I really see a Jelly Roll in that display case?

By now you are probably saying, "Why am I wasting my time reading this?" or "So, why did this guy spend so much time and effort writing about mediocrity?" I thank you for your continued indulgence. You see a Colombian "bakery" always carries more than just breads and cakes. You might see on the storefront sign the word 'bakery' or the Spanish ''panadería' in addition to the word 'piqueteadero' and with that word I throw mediocrity under the bus. Some are bakeries, piqueteaderos and also serve more elaborate and complete restaurante items. Cositas Ricas (79-19 Roosevelt Ave) is the full-blown shebang: bakery, piqueteadero and restaurant, all wrapped up into a lively 24 hour hotspot in Jackson Heights.

I always thought that the word stems from the Spanish "picar", to pick, or snack, so I thought it meant snack shop.

Piqueteadero

Nope. 'Un piquete' is a way of saying 'picnic.' So, in addition to breads and cakes (which I will eventually get to), you find items that you can bring to, or prepare at, you guessed it, a picnic! You'll find fried chicharrón carnudo (fresh salted bacon or pork belly cut wide into 1in. (2cm) strips, slit down almost to the skin; chorizo sausages (Colombian chorizos, to be specific), grilled alongside their accompanying arepas (grilled hominy cakes); Morcilla (black pudding, blood sausage; oh, get over it and just try it!!)

Chicharrón con Arepa

There will be

empanadas (hominy dough shell with the usual fillings of chicken, beef or cheese) and
carimañolas, a masa of yuca around a ground beef (picadillo) filling, if you are lucky enough to find them. Papa rellena, is often present; mashed potato exterior with ground beef filling, battered and deep fried. Maybe a few other fritters are on display. And you are also likely to find tamales (please see my post "A Ride on the #7 Train (Eastern Section) for elaboration).

Arepas come in various types. Made with white or yellow Masarepa (the Goya brand is easy enough to find in Latin markets) or with HarinaPan (hominy flour) with varying amounts of other ingredients for the kneadable dough or masa, depending on the type of arepa you are making;

Arepa Con Queso

Arepas con Queso are larger round discs which include equal parts hominy flour and grated cheese (Mexican queso fresco or mozzarella or a blend of both will do in a pinch), with more melted cheese added on the griddle or encased inside!! (Do you still think you are wasting your time reading this?)

Other ingredients include in the arepa are salt, sugar, milk or water, with or without cheese. The small plain white ones (to accompany the chorizo or chicharrón) are griddled by the better bakeries allowing a slight char to develop (but deep fried in the places taking the easy way out). These are small and unseasoned, not even salt, as they are meant to cleanse the palate after a bite of the rich, salted and rather fatted meat accompaniment.

My favorite arepa is arepa de choclo (arepa de chocolo spelling is also common).

Arepa de Choclo (Chócolo)

Choclo is the term for fresh yellow corn off the cob. Purists make the masa with the fresh corn kernels. Others may add some masarepa to bind. This batter-like dough is ladled onto the griddle and delicately browned on the one side then finished in the oven to prevent breaking. They are heated again to serve adding fresh cheese to melt on top. The final result is a sweet and chewy, cheesy patty, perfect to serve with café or chocolate. Be still my heart!!

More elaborate piqueteaderos/restaurantes make an arepa rellena taking the white, plain large disc arepa, slicing it open and filling it with a large array of filling ingredients like cheese, beans, braised flank steak (sobrebarriga), or ground beef picadillo, and more cheese (!) These are also popular in neighboring Venezuela

Arepa Rellena

These exists one version using egg. I have yet to see in a restaurant. The uncookied arepa is split open, maybe cheese (!) is added, the edges sealed and then it is deep fried (!).

Arepa ingredients are easy enough to find. Making them is very easy, very very easy, and you can be creative and do what you want to add to your masa and make it your arepa! OK. Let's move on!

You may also find in the display case assorted cups filled with various sweet treats. If the contents are white it is probably arroz con leche, a Latin version of rice pudding. Not as cloyingly sweet, as what we are accustomed to. Portions of home-made flan are usually available. Another favorite of mine is Salpicón ("splash"), available usually seasonally during the warmer months, because it utilizes an abundance of fresh fruits.

Salpicón

I have seen it described as a "Colombian Fruit Cocktail", but unlike our canned version, it is always made fresh on-site, and is usually classified as a dessert. It is simply a base of puréed watermelon in a large cup filled with tropical fruits like mango, papaya, watermelon, banana, grapes, and probably apple as a filler fruit. Brevas en Arequipe is interesting. Brevas are figs, jarred in heavy syrup, sliced open and a garnished with Dulce de Leche caramel filling the slit and served alongside a slice or two of queso fresco (More cheese!! Who can we go wrong!!). Home made hot chocolate is served out of a pot on a warmer to sip alongside the bread items (I haven't forgotten). Common among the poor of the country is aguapanela, a drink made with rustic blocks of locally made brown cane sugar melted in hot water and a splash of lemon juice, served hot or cold, depending on the season, or your tastes. Champús is a thick drink of crushed corn, which may be served either hot or cold. Many larger bakeries have an orange press for fresh juice made on-the-spot.

Brazo de Reina

As far as sweet cakes are concerned, arequipe is a popular filling and spread used to turn something as mundane as what looks like a jelly roll into a brazo de reina (Arm of the Queen) - an unexpected treat! Spread between several layers of baked puff pastry for milhojas (millefeuilles or thousand layers cake). Or spread between two wafer cookies to make obleas con arequipe. Or a dollop between two melt-in-your-mouth alfajores, common all over South America. Or spread between crêpes, stacked high to about 12 to make tartaleta de arequipe, akin to the French tarte aux crêpes.

Other cakes include torta negra, or torta envinada, supposedly entering Colombia via Welsh settlers, dark by way of port wine and a purée of dried fruits like raisins, prunes and the aforementioned brevas conjures up influences from the Iberian Peninsula. I tried this on one or more occasions but I personally fould the taste of red wine in the cake (envinada is a nod to the vino) a little off-putting.

Torta Negra

 A plain but delicious ponqué or panqué (from the English, pound cake), originated in France as Quatre-Quarts (Four Fourths). Pastel de tres leches (tres leches cake) common all over Latin America originates n Nicaragua. A classic layered sponge cake soaked with a blend of (1) 1 can evaporated milk, (2) 1 can condensed milk, onto which (3) whipped cream is spread to fill the layers and to ice the cake. (To gild the lily, I have even seen a cuatro leches cake where the fourth milk uses arequipe as the outer icing instead of whipped cream! (!) But not one of these cake items is inherently Colombian.

The Spanish brought wheat and cheese to the New World. Corn or maize originates is meso-America. Manioc, or yuca, originates is South America. Both maize and manioc can be processed into a flour and/or starch, and both are used extensively in making Colombian breads. And here's the thing. In many breads, wheat is non-existent. So certain choices are totally gluten free!! Recipes are very simple, once you find the ingredients, available in most Latin markets, mixed in a bowl, with the egg, baking powder, maybe a little milk, formed into bun-sized rolls and baked. Proportion 1 to 1, or 2 (or 3) to 1, of these wheat free flours or starches, either in a blend or just 1, to... wait for it, ... you guessed it, CHEESE! OK, a bread with double or triple the volume of cheese to starch?!  The result is quite astounding! And most delicious. Recipes are easily found online.

So here it goes. Gluten free items in a Colombian bakery, which, to me, are the most delicious, because they are the most exotic. Pandebono, in many bakeries the name used interchangeably with Almojábana is usually served during breakfast time, or during an afternoon snack.

Top left clockwise: Buñuelos, Achira, Pan de Yuca, Almojábana, Pan de Queso, Croissant, unknown

 Best when fresh, but not hot or warm. If not totally fresh, a short trip through the toaster over perks them right up, just let come to room temperature before enjoying with your cafecito or chocolate. Slightly crunchy on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside. The amount of butterfat in the cheese helps keep the buns fresher (butterfat replaces water, and does not evaporate). Pan de queso is another delicious option, but if you follow a non-gluten lifestyle, ask the counter-person to ask the baker about the starch, as I have seen recipes using harina de trigo (wheat flour). Perdón. ¿El pan de queso contiene harina de trigo ó no? (PairDOAN. El pan day KAYso cone-tee-ENEH aREENuh day TREEgo oh NO?) If you are not gluten intolerant, this is obviously not necessary.

Pan de yuca. Utilizing only tapioca starch a/k/a, yuca flour, yuca starch, or harina de yuca, depending on the brand, uses similar proportions of the aforementioned ingredients, although the shape is different, more along the shape of a croissant, but puffier. This one stumps me. The exterior is almost hard and cracker-like, that once its durable shell is deflowered, it reveals a largely empty interior with very large holes joined together by long chewy strands of the crumb. Again, it is served during breakfast or an afternoon snack, keeps well and is well refreshed after a visit to your handy toaster oven.

Buñuelos. Globally round, deep fried donut-like fritter about the size of a Mandarin orange, 3inches or so in diameter. Similar in composition to our aforementioned gluten free breads, the differences being that this one is a little sweeter and fried, yielding a crunchy exterior and a soft chewy crumb on the inside. And, anyway, who doesn't like fried dough. Among the sweeter items that are gluten free is the empanada de cambray, using the same dough as for almojábanas, except the filling in this case is guava paste, or bocadillo. I have also seen versions of this treat using in addition to the guava paste...can you guess what?...CHEESE! ¡Chocolate, por favor!

You will also find many wheat based items as well. My searches for information about the ingredients of, or a recipe for Achiras have come up fruitless. I has the appearance and the crumbliness of a biscuit or a scone. I do not know if it is wheat or root starch based, and if it has the cheese the Colombians seem to love so much, and no one I ask will let me know. Everyone has his or her secrets to hold, I guess. Mantecada is one Colombian version of corn bread. Croissants are usually in the case, but I have doubts that they are made in-house. Croissants require a LOT of work and time, and seeing the relative ease with which these creations come together, it would be quite a daunting task to muddle through the laborious task of putting a croissant regiment together successfully. So I think the croissants are outsourced. Admittedly, I don't go into a Colombian bakery looking for baguettes or Italian semolina bread, so maybe some bakeries I have encountered sell them, I just haven't taken notice. I don't procure wheat breads in them because I know where excellent French and Italian bakeries are, and I enjoy what is inherently Colombian while there. In fact, I went to a place looking for baguette to make bruschetta, and I was sold rolls of pan blanco (white bread, plain and simple, so I was told) but found it unuseable for that application because it was way too sweet. So, I will just leave it at that.

Naturally, this article cannot be all-inclusive, but I have attempted to include what stands out most when I visit a Colombian bakery, and cast aside what is all too uninteresting. And to those leading a gluten-free lifestyle, whether by choice or by necessity, maybe this will give you a new place to explore.

#Gluten Free  @Gluten Free
#Gluten Free Breads  @Gluten Free Breads
#Colombian Bakery  @Colombian Bakery
#Piqueteadero Colombiano  @Piqueteadero Colombiano