Salteñas

If you are travelling through Bolivia and you are too careful about the sanitation of your food, you may end up eating burger king all your journey, so, what is the point, right?

Bolivia, as pretty much all countries, can be known by walking through the local markets, and eating what people eat. Have some patience, you may be sick, but you´re not gonna die. So, as a first post, I´ll describe one of Bolivia´s best snacks, and one of the most unique snacks in South America: Salteñas. I´ll talk mostly about La Paz, since I live there, but I´ll eventually talk about other locations.

What is a Salteña?

Salteñas are some kind of patty. You can only have them during the morning; not really sure why, it´s probably just a dumb costume. La Paz, has the best ones even though it is been said that they are originally from Potosí. As far as the story goes, Salteñas were made in Potosí some centuries ago by a woman from Salta (hence the name). The one thing that makes Salteñas different from any other patty, is that it is juicy, so you should be careful when eating one.

Salteñas contain some sort of stew with onions, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables. The most popular Salteña is made of beef, but you can find also Salteñas made of chicken, pork, cheesse and for vegetarians. Depending on the cook, it can be spicy or very spicy.

If you are in La Paz, try these places: El Hornito (the best place; try the vegetarian or the one with cheese), Paceña (good) or Chuquisaqueña (the ones with fricasé or mondongo are unique) in Avaroa square; if you are in Cochabamba, there are better things to eat, but Sucremanta can be a good choice. If you are in Santa Cruz, don´t eat Salteñas, you´ll get a bad impression. Bye, have a nice meal.