Pizza Vomito Santa Marta

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: All the slices of pizza here are bigger than my head. Is that a good thing?

I avoid eating pizza when I travel South bluntly put, it does not look appealing at all. Even the ones that claim that they have wood fired ovens, the pizza comes out looking like undercooked frozen pizza or you attempted to reheat a pie with a blowtorch. However, I could not help but notice that in Santa Marta, there was a lot of pizza being made…on the street. These carts had gas pizza ovens and the proprietors were actually rolling out fresh dough and making pizzas. 

Curiosity may of killed the cat, but it just makes me hungry (not for cat) and I finally rolled up to one to see the pizzas they were making literally in an open kitchen. They are sold by the slice and reheated as such so I started off simple with a ham and cheese topped slice. First thing to notice is that crust does not exist. The toppings go all the way to the edge. Those that do not like crust, come to Colombia. The next I noticed is it is a pretty pale pizza. As an advocate of pizza char, I was a bit apprehensive about how this will taste. Queue flashbacks to frozen pizzas in College.

However, I was surprised that the pizza was actually pretty good. The crust…well the dough element I guess I will call it was actually a bit crispy and spying a bag of cornmeal on the side I think helped. The tomato sauce was clearly canned or some sort so it was on the sweet side but the saltiness of the ham and cheese worked well with it and also, they were easy on the tomato sauce which ensured an edible product.

I was feeling good, then I encountered a pizza guy setting up on the side street in from of a flower shop with a sign in proud, dripping letters, “Pizza Vomitto 6ta”. This obviously caught my eye and weirdly hungry. I of course, had to try this Pizza Vomitto. Having already experienced the culinary creation of the Colombian hotdog, heavy on the toppings was no surprise to me but the stuff they put on it, left me laughing. It starts off with the tomatoes sauce base, then the cheese like any normal pizza. Next comes an array of meats, sausage, ham, pepperoni, and shredded chicken.

Then the vegetable, of chopped red onions, peppers and corn and that gets all thrown into the oven. When it comes out, they are not done yet, with the addition of parmesan cheese, a squirt of Caesar dressing, mayonnaise (mayonnaise is a popular topping I noticed) and finally, a blanket of potato sticks.  I have no clue how this creation first came out, but I can assume the Vomitto name is very, very figurative rather than in the taste and look. In broken Spanish and cursing 9^th grade me for not paying attention in Spanish III better, I asked from what I could understand, it was created for late night clubbers which makes sense. 

The taste? It was actually good. You could actually taste all the ingredients and they all worked together somehow. The potato stick topping on the pie is great, adding a lot of crunch to it. It sort of reminds me of back in school, and what I will occasionally do, sticking potato chips into my sandwich. The pizza in Colombia surprises me ad being interesting and not bad. It is obvious that we cannot compare this to the pies in New York or even a Neapolitan pie but it is a pizza in its own right and it tasted better than some of the pizza I have eaten in the US. The pizza here is more closely related to a heavily topped flatbread and they are quite stringent on getting an even layer of toppings that encompasses the whole pie canvas ensuring a perfect bite each time. So do not be turned off by the pizza in Santa Marta and give it a try, the Pizza Vomitto is worth a try and if you actually finish the whole thing, I applaud you, for I ate ¾ of that thing and it sat in me like a rock. 

Perro Caliente (Hotdogs) Colombia

On Nomz Hero Note to Self: What doesn’t taste good with crushed up potato sticks on top

Perro Caliente with an absurd amount of mayo

At barbeques, if asked if I want a hotdog or a hamburger, I will always answer hamburger, at least as what I am going to eat first. I like hotdogs but going head to head with a hamburger or a sandwich, I will choose the later just simply because after eating a hotdog, I never feel completely satisfied. Even in New York, eating at Crifdogs or Japadog, one or two hotdogs is really just a snack for me, which is probably why I was a fat kid. One hotdog never satisfied me until I came face to face with the Colombian version of a hotdog. 

I encountered it first when I was in the Bogota airport, I heard rumors of the ridiculous amount of condiments and when I found a place selling it, I of course had to eat it. Here is the basic rundown of the Colombian hotdog. It starts off simple enough, a footlong hotdog and a bun to match. The one at the airport toasted their bun too. Then goes the ketchup…not weird, still on level ground, then the mayonnaise…pushing the comfort zone, then the pineapple sauce…wait what? Then grated cheese…uhh what is going on? Then the crushed potato sticks and my mind being utterly confused. 

This huge monstrosity was the size of my forearm and I thought it was funny that the server gave me extra ketchup and mayonnaise packets. I notice that napkins are used and given sparingly in Colombia so that one measly napkin they gave you will not be enough. This is a condiment party and with everything that is in there…this somehow works and taste awesome. The pineapple sauce is great here and though initial reactions usually would have everyone horrified, I guess it is kind of like the 50s baked ham and pineapple rings kind of combination. The pineapple sauce is not overly sweet which I think helps in working with everything. 

I later revisited the hotdog when I was in Santa Marta and found another hotdog vendor that was doing great business. I again got it and this time, it got a double helping of cheese in the condiment layering as well as the addition of mayonnaise based coleslaw. I also noticed that the hotdogs were kept in a hotpot that had a poaching liquid that had pineapples in it. This one just as messy as the other one and after eating this, left me covered with bits of cheese and potato sticks. Both times, you could taste the hotdog and it was not as salty as you would think. It was a good hotdog though the condiments are what make a Colombian hotdog. It is a fun thing to eat and one of the few hotdogs I can eat and feel actually satisfied after eating.

Street Eats Santa Marta

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Sausage being sold on the street is a sign of a great culture

The meals I had in Santa Marta were all good however; the bulk of my diet in Santa Marta besides eating obscene amounts of ice cream was mainly from street food. Some will think this is horrifying and disgusting and others think of this as being plain awesome. I have certain rules for stuff that I eat on the street and so far, it has kept my stomach out of trouble more or less. There is food found at almost every corner of the street in Santa Marta and even more there is fruit as almost every corner. I was in Colombia for about 8 days. I have never consumed so much fruit in a given period of time. I think I consumed so much fruit that it most likely is the contributing factor of why my legs got destroyed by mosquitoes the one day I decided to wear shorts on the trek. 

Vendors are selling fruits of all kind yet for the more exotic like guyabana or lucuma those you generally have to go to the market. Yet, fruits like, pineapples, mangos, papayas, watermelons and just basic melons, the corner guy will have that for you. The fruit sold, though maybe a lot of fruits that you can see in any supermarket in America are noticeably different when you eat it. The pineapples are dripping with juice that if you do not assume the right eating stance, will be covered in juice like you were making love to the Tropicana girl. The papayas had sweetness to them that I have only tasted when I was in Asia. The fruit was plentiful and cheap and everyone would be eating them throughout the day. For a more dessert feel, some vendors offer condensed milk and sugar, if for some reason you want the extra sugar kick. Smoothie and juice vendors were everywhere, it seemed like anyone with a descent blender was selling juice. Since water of unknown origin was usually added to the smoothies and juices, I rarely took part in drinking them. Fried things after the Jump!!

Ciudad Perdida- Lost City founded by Grave Robbers

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Find out what DEET is really and how it is apparently utterly useless against the mosquitoes in the Sierra Nevada National Park.

“Oh Shit”

I mean that both the figurate and the literal. It rained the night before and the Colombian Red Clay has caked my hiking boots almost making effort to gain any traction useless. The only thing that is keeping me from falling on my ass and sliding off to unknown depths of the dense jungle is my trekking pole. It looks like shit and thanks to the mules that transport various things from foods, equipment, lumber and Gringo luggage there is literal shit covering various points on the trek. I guess if it has to carry our load, mule is free to drop his load wherever he wants.

Ciudad Perdida is located in Northwest Colombia by the Caribbean coast in the Sierra Nevada National Park. Currently, the trek needs to be done with a tour company, all with the current fixed price as of 2012 600,000 pesos. The amount of days that you trek is up to you varying from 4 days to 6 days. It takes about 2-3 days to hike up to Ciudad Perdida and the rest of the time is hustling back to the start point. The trek is about 52 Km long but it is not 52 Km on a nice flat plateau, it is more like up and down hills and trails that vary from rocky to muddy or the combination of the two. The trek is visually stimulating as you pass through farms, valleys, hills (plural) and through the dense jungle and over and through rivers. This trek is not the most gringo friendly trek as there are so questionable safety areas for those that are clumsy and a lot of uneven footing. It is not dangerous, just the clumsy need to pay attention a bit more. More After the Jump!