Gastronomy

In all honesty, Bolivia is not a gastronomic flagship on the South American continent. It does have its specialties however. Here are a few of the best-known dishes you will find throughout the country:

• The salteña, a juicy turnover cooked in the oven and stuffed with beef and chicken
• The fricase, made from pork which was marinated and cooked in a spicy sauce with corn, potato and chuño (dehydrated potato). Served in a delicious sauce, only served at lunchtime.
• The pique macho, one of the most popular dishes in Bolivia. Chopped beef cooked with sausage, onion and tomato. Served with French fries and sometimes rice. It also tends to come with a hard-boiled egg, an olive and piece of cheese, all served in one dish.
• The plato paceño, fried cheese with an ear of corn, potato and broad beans.
• The charquekan, slender lama meat, dried and deep-fried, served with « mote » ( pieces of corn), a hard-boiled egg and sometimes chuño (dehydrated potato).

• Chuquisaqueño chorizo, a big, spicy sausage, traditionally served at lunchtime, with some bread and salad. Watch out for the « rocoto » (pepper) in the salad.

• The picante de lengua, a beef tongue served in a spicy sauce (mildly spicy), potato and chuño (dehydrated potato)
• Silpancho, a breaded beef fillet, served with rice and potato.
• Trout (trucha) and pejerrey: can be found everywhere in Andes, and mainly around Lake Titicaca.
• Tucumana, a deep-fried doughnut stuffed with chicken, egg and olive.
• Peanut soup, often served as an appetizer.

Each city produces its own bear. You will find the Paceña in La Paz, the Huari in the Oruro region, the Potosina in Potosi and the Sureña in Sucre.

Bolivia produces some good wines in the Tarija region. The ones we would recommend the most are Kohlberg, Concepción, Campos de Solana and Aranjuez. Finally, the Tarija region often produces a grape alcohol, called singani, an equivalent of the Peruvian pisco.