Achiras de Huila are typically found hanging in little stalls on the side of a road alongside arepas, corn and other baked or fried local carbs, this seems to be the ideal and common found companion while traveling in Colombia. Achiras are usually found in clear, thin plastic cylinders hanging from the roof stalls.
They might not look like much at first, but they grow on you and become increasingly addictive with each passing bite. As of today, and a few hundred digested achiras later, I am absolutely smitten.
More than a crunchy cracker, Achiras de Huila is not your plain old Ritz biscuit. Instead of wheat flour, Achira is made from Achira flour…Um ok…What?
What is Achira? It comes from the cana edulis family, in which also belongs ginger and banana. Achira is native to the Andes region and grown between 500-2700 meters of altitude. Typically cultivated in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia it is also known as ‘sagu’. It is used commonly used in the form of flour to bake
cakes and crackers as well as the famous traditional and regional ‘Achiras de Huila’.
These baked, cheesy and buttery goodness are ridiculously addictive. I bought a large bag the other day for my partner as I cleaned off the last bag he bought and out of my control, I ended up eating the whole thing once again before he even came home. It was totally beyond my willpower.
It’s hard to say that the baked combination of fresh cheese, Achira flour and butter, is entirely healthy, but they are part of that cheesy bread family all Colombians love. To make you feel a little bit better, at least they’re gluten-free… Whatever that means…
[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_PLUS]
So, you’re planning a trip to Bogotá—or maybe you're considering making the move, like I…
Have you ever come across the term Vitamin D deficiency? It turns out that pregnant…
It’s not India, but let’s be honest, there is a pretty well-defined class system in…
I haven’t seen any foreigners share their experience of living in Bogota and the discuss…
Whether you're really into jewelry, are looking to buy that perfect engagement ring or just…
I know this is another one of those articles that I’m going to get hung…
View Comments
Hey, I am so glad I found this! I have been struggling to find the name for this snack! I just wanted to point out that the Canna edulis is a part of the Cannaceae family and in no way related to ginger or banana. It has only one genus which is Canna.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this colombian snack. I really like achiras because they are gluten free, baked not fried and best of all they are delicious and as you say addictive ?
Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article post. I like to write a little comment to support you.|