Colombia has a cheese-making tradition that few people associate with haute gastronomy. Colombian cheese is, for most people, something that goes in the bandeja paisa or in the afternoon arepa with hot chocolate. Nothing more. That perception ignores a reality that the best restaurants in the country are beginning to explore: Colombia produces cheeses with their own character, with defined flavor profiles and with a regional identity that has as much gastronomic value as any European cheese with a denomination of origin.
La Makha Restaurant, on the first floor of Binn Hotel in El Poblado, Medellín, works with two of those cheeses in a specific way: the buffalo stracciatella from Planeta Rica and the Paipa cheese from Boyacá. Neither is a decorative ingredient. Each has a technical role in the construction of the dish where it appears and a pairing designed to complement its profile.
Buffalo stracciatella: the cheese from Colombia’s interior Pacific
Planeta Rica is a municipality in Córdoba, in northern Colombia, with a buffalo farming tradition that produces high-quality buffalo milk. Stracciatella is the interior part of burrata: the creamy mixture of mozzarella threads and cream that gives the cheese its characteristic texture. In Colombia, the buffalo version has a higher dairy richness than the cow version, with a creaminess that shreds to the touch and a slightly more intense and buttery flavor.
At La Makha, the Buffalo Stracciatella ($55.000) arrives with garlic-smoked peas, fennel and orange mousse, confit San Marzano tomatoes, pennyroyal oil and artisanal herb bread. The smoked peas contrast with the creaminess of the cheese. The fennel and orange mousse adds acidity and freshness. The pennyroyal oil, with its herbal profile from the Antioquian mountains, connects the dish with the territory.
The natural pairing for this dish within the La Makha wine list is a white with pronounced acidity and herbal profile. The Marqués de Riscal Verdejo ($263.000) from D.O. Rueda, with its herbaceous notes and fresh acidity, works well. The Martin Codax Albariño ($402.000) from the Rías Baixas, with its salinity and citric acidity, also has coherence with the combination of creamy cheese, confit tomato and herbal oil in the dish.
Paipa cheese: the only Colombian cheese with a denomination of origin
Paipa cheese comes from the municipality of the same name in Boyacá and is the only Colombian cheese with a protected designation of origin. It is a semi-matured cow’s milk cheese, with a semi-hard paste, with a profile that combines lactic notes with slight acidity and a soft bitterness that increases with maturation time. It has a texture that holds up well to heat without completely melting, which makes it useful in hot applications.
At La Makha, Paipa cheese appears in the Lamb course of the tasting menu, as a foam together with goat yogurt. The foam lightens the density of the cheese and allows its flavor to appear as a background note rather than as a protagonist that competes with the braised lamb filling. The San Marzano tomato powder that finishes the dish adds a concentrated acidity that balances the richness of the bone glaze and the creaminess of the foam.
The pairing for this course in the tasting menu is the Doña Dominga Carmenere ($180.000), a Chilean red from the Colchagua Valley with spiced and fruity notes that accompany well the complexity of the braised lamb and the lactic profile of the Paipa cheese.
La Makha’s wine list and its coherence with the cheeses
La Makha’s wine list is not extensive but it is coherent. It has selections that work at different moments of the dinner and that can be built as a progressive pairing if the diner wishes.
For dishes with creamy cheeses like the Buffalo Stracciatella, whites are the most logical option. The Doña Dominga Chardonnay ($180.000) from the Colchagua Valley, with its medium body and notes of tropical fruit and light vanilla, accompanies well the creaminess of the cheese without overpowering the more delicate elements of the dish. The Rocca di Montemassi Vermentino ($376.000) from Tuscany, with its salinity and mineral acidity, is another option that works with the herbal profile of the pennyroyal oil.
For dishes with matured or cooked cheeses, medium-bodied reds with present acidity work best. The Beronia Crianza ($262.000) from Rioja, with its Tempranillo and notes of cherry and soft spices, has the structure to accompany Paipa cheese without overwhelming it. The Doña Dominga Carmenere ($180.000), which the restaurant uses as the official pairing for the Lamb course, also works with any dish that has Paipa cheese as a component.
Viche and cheeses: an underexplored combination
One of the most interesting pairings that La Makha proposes, though not codified as such on the menu, is the combination of viche canao with dishes that have Colombian cheese. Viche canao is a variety of Pacific viche macerated with aromatic plants and fruits. It has notes that range from herbal to fruity, with a softer alcoholic base than conventional aguardiente.
The acidity and aromatic complexity of viche canao have coherence with the lactic and slightly acidic profile of Paipa cheese. It is the kind of pairing that a sommelier with knowledge of Colombian product would propose but that few author restaurant menus in Medellín contemplate yet. La Makha has the ingredient and the service infrastructure to build that experience for those who ask for it.
The Basil Smash with viche canao that the restaurant serves as the pairing for the first course of the tasting menu, the Corn Crisp Arepa, also has coherence with the Buffalo Stracciatella: the basil and lemon of the cocktail work as a counterweight to the creaminess of the cheese in the same way that the pennyroyal oil works in the dish.
To go deeper into how La Makha builds its drinks proposal in relation to the food, the article on signature cocktails and Colombian mixology at La Makha explains the philosophy behind each combination.
Hours and reservations
La Makha opens for dinner Monday to Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 10:30 p.m. Sundays and holidays are closed for dinner. Breakfast is available every day from 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The restaurant is at Carrera 25 #10-51, Transversal Superior, El Poblado, Medellín, on the first floor of Binn Hotel, with free covered parking.
Frequently asked questions about cheese pairing at La Makha
What Colombian cheeses does La Makha use in its proposal?
Buffalo stracciatella from Planeta Rica, Córdoba, and Paipa cheese from Boyacá, the only Colombian cheese with a protected designation of origin.
In which dishes do Colombian cheeses appear at La Makha?
The buffalo stracciatella is the central ingredient of the Buffalo Stracciatella starter ($55.000). Paipa cheese appears as foam in the Lamb course of the tasting menu.
What wines does La Makha recommend to pair with Colombian cheeses?
For creamy cheeses like stracciatella, whites with acidity like Marqués de Riscal Verdejo ($263.000) or Martin Codax Albariño ($402.000). For matured cheeses like Paipa, medium-bodied reds like Beronia Crianza ($262.000) or Doña Dominga Carmenere ($180.000).
What is Paipa cheese?
It is the only Colombian cheese with a protected designation of origin. It comes from the municipality of Paipa, Boyacá, is semi-matured, semi-hard paste, with lactic notes and a slight acidity that increases with maturation.
Where is La Makha in Medellín?
At Carrera 25 #10-51, Transversal Superior, El Poblado, Medellín, on the first floor of Binn Hotel.
How much does the tasting menu at La Makha cost?
$330.000 per person without pairing and $420.000 with curated pairing, which includes the Doña Dominga Carmenere as the pairing for the Lamb course with Paipa cheese.
To book and live the full proposal, the starting point is the official La Makha Restaurant page. Colombian cheeses deserve a place at the author table. At La Makha they already have one.
