Out of all the urban areas in the granite state, I consider Nashua to be the best option for adventurous eaters. All it takes is a quick stroll around the city’s epicenter to find something wholly unfamiliar yet wonderfully enticing.
Many years ago, I encountered my first taste of Colombian cuisine at Rincon Colombiano, an unpolished, diminutive restaurant specializing in monsturous plates of Colombian comfort food suitable for a last meal request.
Giant slabs of grilled top round steak with over easy eggs, frisbee-shaped cutlets of breaded pork, whole fried snapper, arroz con pollo; the list of high protein delicacies goes on. They were all served with a smile in an unfussy, slightly cluttered dining room.
After scarfing a couple empanadas (at $1 each, how could you not?), I settled on the char-grilled pork loin. To this day, I reminisce about the perfectly seasoned, tender hunk of pig that I received. Yet, the main attraction was arguably the pantheon of sides that were served with every entree. White rice, beans, fried maduros (ripe plantains), a quarter avocado and encellado de repollo (cabbage salad). There may have even been an arepa (those beloved stuffed corn cakes) in the mix.
After spending a ravished thirty minutes with the plate, tackling it from every angle, all that remained was a scant fistful of rice, a few fatty knobs of pork and one overly satiated teenager.
A few years after my visit, Rincon Colombiano changed hands and became Casa Blanca. With the new title came an overhaul of the interior, including a new bar, eccentric wall ornaments and lively plants sprawled throughout. The menu, however, maintains the traditional, hearty spirit of the original establishment.
On a recent visit, in an attempt to avoid an extreme caloric influx, I veered away from the grilled meat platters (known as platos tipicos) and instead ordered the Arepa Casa Blanca. This carnivorous dish features generous quantites of pulled marinated beef, pork rinds, cheese, guacamole and house white sauce.
My experiences with arepas had always been handheld affairs, with the cakes being split open and filled with a litany of fillings. This variation featured mounds of beef and pork piled atop a flattened arepa. Lifing it off the plate is a fool’s errand; it’s time to dig out the utensils.
The unctuous, tender beef barely required teeth to eat, while the crispy bits of fried pork add a pop of smoky fattiness. A generous dollop of housemade guacamole contibutes freshness and creaminess in equal measure, while the unexpected addition of monteditas (fried plantain chips), provide some added crunch and a subtle sweetness.
The starchy griddled cake underneath all this madness is the perfect base to absorb those beefy meat juices. It’s an intensely satisying and meaty dish that won’t place you in a food coma when the experience is over.
Of course, if a food coma is what you seek, Casa Blanca prepares numerous meat and seafood specialties, including the famous Bandeja Paisa (every meat eater’s fever dream), Pargo Rojo (that aforementioned red snapper) and Chuleta Empanizada (breaded pork chops). Add a house-pressed juice or cocktail, and a blissful lunch is guaranteed.
The arepas, however, are the ultimate exercise in reserved gluttony, and they’re surely not to be missed. Find Casa Blanca at 34 1/2 Canal Street in Nashua, NH.