Colombia

Colombia's food varies by altitude and coast, hearty Andean stews like ajiaco, corn arepas eaten everywhere, and a lavish bandeja paisa platter. Tropical fruits, plantain, and fresh cheeses run through a warm, regionally diverse cuisine.

Bogota's ajiaco is a specific soup rather than a generic stew: three kinds of potato go in, the small yellow papa criolla dissolves to thicken it, an aromatic herb called guascas gives it its particular note, and it arrives with cream and capers stirred in at the table alongside a cob of corn.

Arepas are shared with Venezuela and the two countries argue over them without resolution; what changes is the corn, the thickness and what goes inside. Bandeja paisa, the loaded platter, belongs to Antioquia and the coffee-growing hills rather than to the country at large, and the coasts cook with coconut where the highlands cook with potato.

A firm, sliceable cinnamon custard set with cornstarch and sweetened with raw-cane panela, Colombia's Christmas sweet.