Freshly grated yuca wrapped in corn husks and boiled into dense, chewy loaves, eaten at breakfast with suero costeño, queso costeño and a fried egg. The base carbohydrate of the Caribbean coast.
Bollo de yuca is the base carbohydrate of the Caribbean Colombian breakfast, eaten across Atlántico, Bolívar and Magdalena. Freshly grated bitter yuca is wrapped in corn husks and boiled, producing a dense, chewy loaf. The bollo is an indigenous Caribbean food of the Wayuu and Tairona, made of yuca or maize, and it has no counterpart in the Andean interior where maize arepas dominate. It is served with suero costeño, queso costeño and huevos pericos (scrambled eggs with tomato and onion).
Dense, smooth, faintly elastic and neutral-tasting, the yuca starch setting firm as it cools. Eaten with suero costeño, the tang cuts the starch and the queso costeño adds a salty edge. The default is to eat two for breakfast.
Fresh bitter yuca is peeled, grated raw and squeezed to remove some of its liquid, then seasoned only with salt. The grated mass is rolled into logs, wrapped tightly in corn husks and boiled until the starch fully gelatinises and sets. The wrapping is essential: it holds the loose grated yuca together during the long boil and gives the characteristic cylindrical shape.
Variations
A sweet version adds sugar and anise. A Bolívar variant mixes in coconut.
On the Palate
Where Bollo de Yuca sits in the Colombian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 18 min
Peel 1kg fresh bitter yuca, grate it raw on the finest holes, and squeeze the mass in a cloth to remove excess liquid.
Watch outSqueeze the grated yuca firmly in a cloth to wring out the excess liquid — too wet and the logs won't hold together in the boil.
- 24 min
Mix the grated yuca with 1 tsp salt; it should hold together when pressed.
- 37 min
Lay out softened corn husks, place a log of the yuca mass on each, and roll tightly into cylinders, folding the ends under.
Watch outRoll the husk parcels tight — a loose wrap lets the grated yuca fall apart before the starch sets.
- 44 min
Tie each bollo with kitchen string to hold its shape.
- 514 min
Boil the bollos in a large pot of salted water for 45 minutes until firm and set.
Watch outBoil the full 45 minutes until firm and set — undercooked, the center stays raw and gluey.
- 65 min
Drain, unwrap while hot, and serve with suero costeño, queso costeño and huevos pericos.
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