Whats the story behind Onces...???? 1st Correct answer gets a prize!

ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 19, 2008, 15:25:

I have heard more than one explanation. Some say that it is because it was originally taken mid morning. My aunt in England swears that it is a translation of Elevens.

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

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bkcarolina says on Aug 19, 2008, 15:37:

Here's the explanation I heard:

The men wanna get drunk, but the women think they should stay sober and keep working. So the secret code for "let's take a break for a drink" is onces because a-g-u-a-r-d-i-e-n-t-e has eleven letters. Sounds good?

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gamm2 says on Aug 19, 2008, 15:49:

You got it BkCarolina!!! Congrats :) Your prize is all my respect and admiration...!!!

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 19, 2008, 16:01:

So that is the right answer according to your tour guide. Who knows what the correct explanation is.

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

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gamm2 says on Aug 19, 2008, 16:04:

It makes sense though doesnt it? The morning snack thing is what I always thought before, but it doesnt really fit??? LIke why would you have medias nueves and then onces.... (if onces referred to time)

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 19, 2008, 16:06:

Who knows. I did some searching and found all three explanations and even a few I'd not heard of. I suppose it could be that although the Elevens sounds plausible as well. I think that is one way to refer to an afternoon snack in England.

I always did think it was a weird thing to say as a kid. Now I'm hungry for some bocadillos or obleas. Better hit the Colombian shop tonight.

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

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webmanco says on Aug 19, 2008, 17:29:

Onces is what you eat after "el polvito de las 4:00 P.M

holy onces is what you eat after "el polvito" right after 4:00 pm on holidays

No hay extremo cierto o verdadero, porque los extremos opacan, enruedan, (lavan cerebros) verdades. Yotas

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dwmte7 says on Aug 19, 2008, 21:10:

intonces?

patriarch

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dtapia says on Aug 19, 2008, 21:31:

I've heard the aguardiente story a few times. But it sounds pretty lame/suspect to me.

At 11am you get kinda hungry and have a little snack before lunch which is served at around 1:30 in Columbia.

Sometimes, a tree is a tree is a tree.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 19, 2008, 21:42:

a tree is a tree is a tree? profound.

before studying zen, men are men, mountains are mountains, and trees are trees.

while studying zen, things become a bit confused.

after studying zen, men are men, mountains are mountains, and trees are trees.

what is the difference between before and after, you might ask?

no difference....only the feet are a little bit off the ground.

*zen master

patriarch

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 20, 2008, 09:21:

I've only heard of onces in Bogotá but never in Medellín. In paisaland it's "media mañana" and in the afternoon it's the "merienda".

This probably has nothing to do with this but my grandma used to give us a bowl, not a cup, a bowl of aguapanela as soon as we woke up and called it "tragos" dizque para que no se nos pegaran las tripas. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD

Ahhh good times!

Diana

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dwmte7 says on Aug 20, 2008, 09:50:

you're right, diana.....my wife just told me the story about guaro was b.s. and it was just a mid morning snack. darn. i thought i had become privy to the secret drinker's code and could be called up at any moment to embibe. now i find out it's just for some aguapanela.

patriarch

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Aug 20, 2008, 10:13:

The simpler the explanation the more the chances of it's being true. In Cali, our maid used to serve us a "juguito" or a slice of fruit at mid-morning. Sometimes when she was frying tajadas or chicharrones or something like that, she's also serve a little of whatever she was doing for lunch at that same time. For me, "onces" is just a mid-morning snack. Now, why on earth would the rolos call a midafternoon snack "onces" beats me....

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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gamm2 says on Aug 20, 2008, 11:53:

Whenever Ive heard people talk about onces its been an afternoon snack.... It would make sense if it was a late morning snack... but it seems a little extreme to have breakfast medias nueves and then lunch! Dang!

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Aug 20, 2008, 12:04:

I dunno...people in Cali don't have any "onces", just "entredía", some with a stiff little finger may have a "merienda".

In my in-law's house they never missed an occasion to get something good to eat, especially during the day. The breakfast usually sucked big time, just orange juice, café au lait (mostly boiled milk) and white, soft bread with butter, eaten very early in the morning. You do get hungry before lunchtime if you don't have a decent breakfast.

They had an afternoon cup of chocolate or café au lait with pandebono or arepas around 4 p.m. and a very extremely light dinner around 6 p.m....and after that NOTHING until next day. I raided the fridge at late hours, habitually.

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

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dwmte7 says on Aug 20, 2008, 12:46:

with all the good eats in colombia, you'ld think they would have mastered a fantastic breakfast...but no. that's still to come. give me some hash browns, eggs, tocineta and some good pan integral y mantiquilla. listo....too, some real cafe. not that watered down stuff or nescafe...yich.

patriarch

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 20, 2008, 13:40:

Oh no, no, no, no. In my house in Medellín is always arepa con huevo, or morcilla or chorizo with a migado. Or as we like to call it MIGAOOO. It's just a bowl of coffee with milk or chocolate with pieces of "parva". Bread, pandebono, buñuelo, almojábana, and queso fresco. It is sooooo freaking good.

Diana

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Aug 20, 2008, 14:24:

I don't know the meaning but probably it was an snack you have before lunch about 11am , that is why we call onces (lonchera) the snack we take to school for the break time which it was usually between 10:30 to 11 am.. :((

♥

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 20, 2008, 14:33:

"lonchera" Ha Ha. I hadn't heard that one in a while.

I never could quite get used to that word although it is very common in Colombia. That is one of the older "anglicized" words used in Colombia.

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

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dwmte7 says on Aug 20, 2008, 19:16:

i apologize to all antioquenos...i forgot one of the most important ingredients, quesito....del campo. you all know what i mean...that naturally spicy white semi dry cheese...oh! for the love of GOD, it's so fricken good. just like mononoke, it's just the best.

i can eat the quesito from all around antioquia with all meals. it's like my protein. local mantequilla y quesito...from rural areas everywhere.

patriarch

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Robert Jorge says on Aug 21, 2008, 08:34:

Dwmte7, my buddy loves that cheese also. He eats it every time he is in Colombia - he gorges himself on it - and then can't poop for several days.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 21, 2008, 10:38:

when i was living in llano grande, there was a farm somewhere around that sold their cheese to the local markets..it was so delicious. just the right amount of 'bite'. almost a bit like some of the goat cheeses i ate in europe and the middle east. when we're with other family members in margate (near miami), there's a mini market there--arcoiris--that specializes in colombian products. they fly in ever 2 or 3 days, quesito, from antioquia. it's very good, also, but not as good as that bought in el campo out by the airport.

patriarch

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 21, 2008, 11:15:

dwmte7,

Have you taken the Cheese tour that takes off from Medellín. There weren't any available dates when I was there last but my whole family bragged about it. You take off early in the morning and go to all these cheese farms and you get to take samples with you. Yum!!!!

Diana

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dwmte7 says on Aug 21, 2008, 13:42:

no diana, i never heard of it. certainly something i'd love to do...in fact it's one of those activities the whole family would enjoy...especially if it's up towards llano grande and the airport. we don't like going up north...bello, barbosa area...that much. nor the back side below envigado...caldas, primavera, etc.

usually, i'm the one who always disappears, as i no longer enjoy being down in the city...poblado and envigado. it's just a real bore for me. now, i'm almost always up in llano grande, just because it's quiet, there's none of that prepago, titty club, tourist bar;/trap stuff and i can just hang out in the finca with real good old friends and the most exciting thing that happens is the birth of a llegua or a calf. chicken noises and dogs barking but no exhaust, no horns and tons of good times with family friends. you know how it goes.

i'll take the bus over to gualanday (near tutucan) and hang out for the afternoon as i know everyone there for years and we have such good conversations and pass fun times together.

right now, we're still stuck in lodi (daytona beach) as the youngest is attending her high school studies (catholic school) and when we can finally get her off to university, mom and i can go home. we had thought of her staying with her oldest brother in washington d.c. and attending saint bernadettes up there, where his girls went to school, but i don't want to turn her loose and over to anyone...not even her brother.

now all we get is occassional vacation time back home.

will you be in medallo for navidad? DO NOT FORGET porvenir (on the edge of rionegro) for the candle festival...there's nothing like it in all the world. for a lazy little nothing of a place, porvenir changes and becomes this candle lit portion of heaven. don't miss it.; starts late november and runs through the first couple of weeks of dec. call the alcaldia of porvenir or rio negro to get clear on the dates.

patriarch

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Hostal Tamarindo says on Aug 23, 2008, 17:08:

Wikipedia says, "En Chile, algunas zonas de Colombia y otros lugares de latinoamerica; las once, las onces o la once, es la comida servida a media tarde, al modo del Afternoon Tea inglés, el goûter francófono o la merienda española. Se acostumbra tomar once entre las 4 y las 8 de la tarde, sirviéndose té o café y pan, habitualmente marraqueta (llamado también pan batido o pan francés) con mantequilla, palta, jamón, queso, manjar o mermelada.

Unas onces completas (o una once completa) pueden incluir galletas, dulces chilenos, torta, kuchen, berlines, sopaipillas, roscas, helados y jugo. Si se toma once en un restaurant, el pan puede ser un sándwich elaborado, como un Barros Luco, Barros Jarpa, chacarero o lomito. En algunos casos, la once puede ser una leche, o cereales, o cualquier otro alimento comun de un desayuno (generalmente esto ocurre en los niños). En muchas familias esta comida ha pasado a reemplazar a la cena (situación conocida, a veces, como once-comida).

El origen del término es discutido, aunque lo más probable es que se derive de una comida tomada a media mañana (a las 11), y esa es la interpretación que le da la Real Academia Española. Otra posibilidad es que el término sea una traducción literal de la comida inglesa elevenses. Por último, lo que probablemente sea una etimología popular chilena, dice que esta palabra viene de la costumbre de los trabajadores de las salitreras a finales del siglo XIX, quienes acompañaban la merienda con un trago de aguardiente. Por la existencia de restricciones para beber alcohol, llamaban once a tal comida, por la cantidad de letras (11) que posee la palabra aguardiente. Una variación de la última teoría dice que durante la colonia los caballeros que querían tomar aguardiente se referían a esta bebida como 11, para que las damas no se dieran cuenta.".

Natalie Cobo - Hostal Tamarindo, Medellín

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Hostal Tamarindo says on Aug 23, 2008, 17:10:

Wikipedia in English says, "In the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth realms, elevenses is a snack that is similar to afternoon tea, but eaten in the morning.[1] It is generally less savoury than brunch, and might consist of some cake or biscuits with a cup of tea or coffee. The name refers to the time of day that it is taken: around 11 am. The word "elevenses" is seen as a little old fashioned.[1]

In Colombia the term las onces (the elevens in Spanish) is used to describe a similar meal. Among Chileans, the tradition was known as under the same name, although in modern times, it has shifted in most respects to later in the afternoon, more closely reflecting the pattern of British "tea time".[2] In Australia and New Zealand, it is called morning tea or smoko (often little lunch or playlunch in primary school). Choice of foods consumed at morning tea vary from cakes, pastries or lamingtons, or biscuits, to just coffee. In the Royal Australian Navy it is commonly referred to as "Morno's".".

Natalie Cobo - Hostal Tamarindo, Medellín

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