I'm going to Bogota, Salento Popayan and Pasto.
Any local food and drink is a must try?
I'm a big fan of street food too.
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2It is a local produce, it must be really cheap there too! – edocetirwi Feb 4 '16 at 22:41
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3Hi, unfortunately it looks like several people want to close this question because they think it's subjective, so I've edited it to something non-subjective which I think reflects your intentions. If this isn't what you meant, please edit it to something else that isn't opinion-based! – user56reinstatemonica8 Feb 5 '16 at 8:23
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1Voting to leave open after @user568458's edit. (man please get a real username :P) – JoErNanO♦ Feb 5 '16 at 8:43
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@JoErNanO I tried, but apparently "user formerly known as 568458" is too long :-) P.s. yours isn't much easier to type! – user56reinstatemonica8 Feb 5 '16 at 9:03
Disclaimer: I've not been to Colombia yet, but I have it on good authority that this is one of the most typically Colombian street foods, and I've tried it from Colombian places in other countries and it's pretty distinctive.
Arepas
They're a kind of stodgy corn (maize) bread, often served with cheese. Surprisingly filling, good for breakfast or after drinking, and goes well with a strong coffee. Usually savoury, occasionally served sweet or with sweet cheese.
It also exists in Venezuela, but over there is used differently, more like sandwiches. Here are some typical types of Colombian arepa from mycolombianrecipes.com's page on arepas:
My advice is to avoid street food. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3209856/
A study in Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia revealed that over 30% of a group of food handlers examined were carriers of pathogenic microorganism including Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, and Shigella
The report details a number of worldwide methods by which pathogens can be passed on to customers, including cross-contamination, careless food handling, disregard to hygiene, and vendors blowing air into polythene bags to ease packing food while serving the customer.
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I've made a small edit - instead of quoting just one of the many possible ways food can be contaminated worldwide out of context and presenting it misleadingly implying it is the method of concern in Colombia, I've added a short sentence listing all four methods of contamination mentioned in that section of the report. See edit summary for more details. – user56reinstatemonica8 Feb 8 '16 at 12:02