Goat is a staple in Santander’s cuisine and can be served fried, roasted in a wood-fired oven, or grilled over an open flame, typically accompanied by pepitoria, yuca, and Santander-style arepa. 

The pepitoria is a flavorful dish made with the goat’s offal and blood, simmered with rice. The Santander-style arepa is made from maíz pelado (corn that has been cooked with ash to remove its husk) and ground together with pork cracklings, then seasoned with salt and shaped into round patties. These are cooked over an open flame until crisp and are served as an accompaniment with most meals. In Bucaramanga, you can try these dishes at Restaurante La Puerta del Sol, and they can be found in many establishments along the route.

Santanderian tamales are another local favorite. They are made with maíz pelado dough, flavored with the cooking juices of various meats, and filled with pork, beef, and chicken, as well as chickpeas. The tamales are wrapped in plantain or chisgua leaves and shaped into rectangular parcels. They are typically served hot and can be enjoyed at any time of day. For breakfast, they are often paired with hot chocolate and bread. You can find them at markets such as the one in El Socorro, and some are even made with rice.

In the El Socorro market, you’ll find a variety of traditional dishes, including:

Caldo: a broth made with milk, potatoes, eggs, and cilantro.

Sopa de pichón: made with coagulated beef blood.

Sopa de ruyas: a soup thickened with small balls of maíz pelado dough.

You’ll also find a wide selection of fresh fruits, which are combined to create delicious sweet fruit salads.

Carne oreada is the favorite dish of most people in Santander. A good cut of beef is salted, left to rest in the fridge overnight, then dried in the sun for several days. After that, it’s grilled and served with boiled yuca and hot sauce. The flavor is quite strong, and it’s served in almost every restaurant or piqueteadero (informal eatery). If it’s dried longer, it becomes carne seca (dried beef), which is also highly prized. In Bucaramanga, you can try it at La Puerta del Sol, El Viejo Chiflas, and El Desayunadero Tony. In Páramo, the artisan Ana Virginia Ruiz offers it at her restaurant El Puntal, where the dish consists of a piece of carne oreada, yuca, santanderean arepa, and guarapo (sugarcane drink), a meal once favored by farmers as a mid-morning snack.

Mute is the most popular stew in the region. It’s made with cow’s tripe (one of its stomachs), beef feet, pork meat, chickpeas, mute corn, peas, fava beans, squash, potatoes, carrots, onions, cilantro, cumin, and achiote for color. You can find it at traditional restaurants like La Puerta del Sol, El Viejo Chiflas, and El Desayunadero Tony in Bucaramanga, as well as at different branches of El Chiflas.

Chorotas sancocho is another regional specialty found in Zapatoca and at La Puerta del Sol in Bucaramanga. Chorotas are small balls made from maíz pelado dough (the same dough used for Santanderian arepas) filled with ground or shredded beef, chicken, or pork, along with onion and tomato hogao. The stew is made with beef and chicken ribs, along with yuca, green plantains, corn on the cob, arracacha, and squash, and the chorotas are added towards the end of the cooking process to avoid them falling apart. It’s truly a must-try!

Hormigas culonas (large ants) are a popular snack in the land of the Guanes (the indigenous people who once inhabited this region before the arrival of the Spanish). These ants were eaten for their high protein and fat content. Their heads, legs, and wings are removed, and then they are toasted in clay pots with a little salt. They taste like peanuts and are believed to have aphrodisiac properties. These ants are harvested after Holy Week and can be found at local markets and street vendors.

Carisecas are sweet corn arepas made with yellow corn and panela. You can try these treats at any time of day, especially paired with hot chocolate, in towns like Oiba, El Socorro, and San Gil.

In the bakery Delipan in Zapatoca, a family-run business since 1970, you can find a variety of freshly baked breads made with the finest ingredients. Some of the specialties include mestiza bread, sweet bread, cascaritas, bizcochos, hojaldrados, and the favorite of many: pan salado (savory bread) with unique flavors and textures.

In the Valle de San José, Aurora Vera Salcedo is known for making the most famous chorizos in Santander. These sausages are made from pork, herbs, and spices, then cooked in sugarcane guarapo and served with boiled yuca and homemade hot sauce. You can find them at Chorizos Doña Eustaquia in the town’s main square, a family-run restaurant with a long-standing tradition.

In Charalá, a local sausage called génova charaleña is a popular delicacy. It’s a little spicy and similar to the butifarra from Soledad, Atlántico. It’s typically served cold with a squeeze of lime. You can find them as an appetizer when you visit the Lienzo de la Tierra workshop in Charalá, along with delicious corn empanadas filled with ground meat.

Santander is known for its love of sweets, and one of the region’s most famous treats is Bocadillo Veleño, which has a protected Denomination of Origin. This sweet is made from two types of ripe guava, white and pink, and wrapped in bijao leaves for preservation. It’s often served with white cheese.

Other traditional sweets include those made from local celery, arracacha, cidra, dulce de leche cortado, coquitos , pastillas de arequipe, and maicenitas, which you can try at Dulces Maizenitas 1950 in El Socorro. Maicenitas are a family recipe, made by the Garcías, with rice and have a delicate texture that makes them perfect as a gift for friends and family. You can also enjoy Floridablanca’s Obleas, wafer cookies filled with arequipe (caramel spread) and other delicious fillings. The Sweet Street is the epicenter of these treats.

In Lebrija, there are large pineapple plantations, and local artisans make a variety of pineapple products, including jams. The Asociación de Artesanos y Agricultores Hecho en Lebrija produces jams that pair perfectly with pork dishes, or can be spread on soda crackers or fast food. The association has also started producing pineapple liqueur.

Chicha de maíz is the most traditional drink in Santander, made from corn.

Masato is a lightly fermented drink made from corn or rice in a clay pot, flavored with cloves and cinnamon, and sweetened with sugar.

Refajo is a refreshing drink made by mixing beer with Kola Hipinto (a local soda produced in Santander). It’s the traditional drink to accompany meals. When made with equal parts of beer and Kola Hipinto and guarapo, it’s known as Carabina.

Guarapo is a fermented drink made by soaking in clay pots pineapple peels in freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. After fermenting for several days, it’s served chilled. A variation served with lime in a salt-rimmed glass can be found at Ana Virginia Ruiz’s restaurant El Puntal.