Compared to Mexican, Argentinian and Peruvian cuisine, Colombian food is relatively unknown in Australia, but that’s starting to change.
Annie Hariharan
“When I started at Truffles three years ago, the menu had Polish food and desserts,” says chef Marcela Perea Infante, speaking about the St Kilda cafe where she works.
But the menu has gradually shifted to reflect her Colombian heritage, with empanadas and the corn cakes known as arepa appearing alongside scrambled eggs and cakes.
“Rent was high and we were getting fewer customers,” she says. “When the owner said we may have to close down, I was worried it would affect my work visa and asked if I could cook Colombian food on the weekend.”
This was in December 2024. Eight months later, the positive reception led to the Colombian menu becoming permanent.
Census data shows that the number of Colombian-born residents in Australia increased by 80 per cent between 2021 and 2016. The number is relatively small at approximately 35,000 people, but it’s still larger than the number of Mexican-born residents, which hovers at 7000 people.
Despite this, Mexican has long dominated the Latin American food category in Australia, followed by Argentinian barbecue and Peruvian ceviche. Colombian food is still relatively unknown.
But that’s changing, most noticeably in Melbourne’s inner south-east suburbs. Costenisimo, a Colombian street food eatery, opened in a car wash in St Kilda East in October 2024, six months after it started as a food truck in Footscray; several cafes in Windsor and Prahran now serve empanadas; and a specialty grocer in Balaclava sells frozen plantains.
According to Carellys Vergara and Linda Molano, co-owners of Del Alma cafe in Prahran, Mexican food tends to be spicy with more seasoning and liberal use of tortillas. In comparison, Colombian food uses more rice and plantains.
“Colombian cuisine is influenced by African and Caribbean cultures, especially near the coast, and European culture as you move inland,” says John Gomez, owner of La Tienda in Windsor.
The cuisine is also a byproduct of the tropical climate, evident in the range of fruits used, from soursops to the citrus-like lulo. Corn, rice, cassava and potatoes add heft, and plantains are ubiquitous and varied. “They grow everywhere!” says Gomez. “We eat them with tacos, we deep-fry the green plantains, and eat the sweet [yellow] ones with guava paste.”
Chefs and cooks alike take pride in educating their customers about Colombian food and culture, even if it can be challenging at times due to lingering stereotypes about Colombia and the stronger presence of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine in Australia.
Molano believes the global popularity of Mexican food is closely linked to its proximity to the United States: “Mexico borders the US, and countless pop culture references have highlighted Mexican cuisine, helping it become much more widely recognised.”
Gomez’s explanation is that Mexican food is more convenient to eat on the go. “Other than empanadas, the rest of Colombian food requires sitting down and eating,” he theorises.
Still, Infante credits the growing interest in Colombian food among non-Latin customers to the fact that it is largely gluten-free and mild tasting rather than spicy. The primary source of spice in Colombian food is aji, a condiment made with coriander, parsley, chili and lime juice. It accompanies most dishes and perfectly zests up Colombia’s hearty food.
Bandeja paisa is one of the country’s most emblematic dishes, bringing together rice and a wide range of traditional ingredients from chorizo and crisped-up pork belly to frijoles, a bean stew. The dish originated in Colombia’s north-west and was designed to sustain farmers during long days in the fields.
Cumin and coriander are common spices in Colombian cooking, but it also requires ingredients that were once difficult to source in Australia, such as achiote, which imparts a reddish-orange hue to many dishes, and guascas, a herb with a slightly minty flavour.
“A few years ago it was difficult to find them, but now more people are importing,” says Vergara.
Three places for Colombian food in Melbourne
Truffles Patisserie
Latin America meets Europe at this cosy cafe. Mute is a hearty soup with beef, pork, chicken, tripe and black beans, and cazuela de mariscos is a lighter seafood stew with coconut milk and vegetables. Upbeat salsa music plays in the background and there’s impromptu dancing on Sundays.
192 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, trufflespatisserie.com.au
Del Alma
Vibrant yellow, red and blue-toned murals differentiate this cafe from others in the neighbourhood. The cheese arepa is a mix of sweet and savoury flavours, as is the Colombian hot chocolate, which comes with cubed mozzarella to dunk in the drink until it’s gooey.
107 Greville Street, Prahran, instagram.com/del_alma.au
La Tienda
A restaurant perfect for lunch or dinner. Cazuela de frijoles is a hearty rice dish with crisp pork belly, beans and avocado. Lentil soup with rice, sweet plantain and avocado is lighter yet still nourishing. The aji is made without coriander here, too – good news for anyone with an aversion to the herb.
268 High Street, Windsor, latienda.com.au
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