What is a Real Colombian Salpicón?

A Colombian salpicón is not the same as other salpicons in Latin America.  In other countries, a salpicón is usually salty and includes meat.

Colombia is the only Latin American country which refers to ‘salpicón’ as a sweet snack. It is the marriage between a fruit salad and a smoothie, making the best of both worlds. I’ve checked out the most popular Colombian salpicón recipes on the internet and they don’t really represent the local recipe here in Bogota. They have thick cuts of grapes, apples, pineapple and other fruits, something which you don’t usually find in the local recipe.

The real local street Colombian salpicón consists of very ripe papaya, banana, watermelon and mango diced into pieces no smaller than 1 centimeter and bathed in a purée of what seems to be watermelon and papaya. Everything is so mixed and thinly cut that you can’t tell what is what.  The fruits all melt in a delicious blend and go down without hardly any chewing. Not to mention the fruit are so ripe and sweet, it’s hard to believe no sugar is added! Like I said, it’ a perfect combination of a smoothie and fruit salad.

I’ve seen other street versions with peach and strawberry added to the mix but they are usually more watered down and flavors don’t melt together as well.

Fruit Salpicón variations

1. Instead of using solely fruit purée, some will replace it with Colombina soda.
2.  Different toppings are on offer including cream, cheese, ice cream or all three if your heart so desires.

I like mine as plain as possible and ‘au naturel’ without any toppings or soda. Although you can get yours on portable street carts, I found the tastiest blend to belong to a specialized ‘salpicón’ place in my neighborhood. So for $2,600 pesos I relish in a large portion of fresh fruit in its own juice. It makes for an amazing breakfast, midday snack, and/or dessert.

Check out other street food discoveries including the sweet coconut and panela sticks, mango biche and ‘guanabana’ juice!