Food and Drink of Bolivia

Bolivian Kitchen

Bolivian cuisine is not particularly varied, but it has the merit to decline in many forms it has the ingredients, starting with potatoes! To decorate, there are pasta, grains of the Andes, the meat of camels, cattle and sheep that roam the Altiplano and the flesh of fish ... freshwater (Titicaca, rivers, Amazon).

It is popular in restaurants, such as markets, you will find the food the most "typical" and the cheapest. Disadvantages: the choice is extremely limited and general hygiene not always guaranteed.

Specialties

- The ubiquitous potato is the staple food of the Andean peoples. Do not miss it, el ají of papalisa (dish made of potatoes, meat and onions) which is prepared in Cochabamba. Finally, there is the Chuño, also called Moraya Tuntas or specialty of the central Andes. This ingredient is ancestral becoming a starchy star of the new Andean cuisine.

- The grain of the Andes, including quinoa, delicious soup or milk, was the staple diet Inca. There are also a lot of bread or pasta.

You must try especially to:

- Sajta de pollo: chicken + peppers.

- Aji de lengua: beef tongue + peppers.

- Anticuchos: skewered beef heart + peppers.

- Fricassé: dish with pork and corn.

- Empanada Salten: specialty from the north of Argentina. It's kind of shoe with meat and onions, excellent when it's hot.

- Chicharrones: pieces of pork (mostly) grilled. They are found everywhere in the markets.

- Parillada: pieces of meat and offal (tripe, steak, heart, kidneys, etc..) Grilled over a wood fire. It brings parillada on small portable grills to cook and it ends at the table.

- In the series meat, two courses are popular with backpackers: the pacumutu (skewered meat) and pique macho (spicy mixture of meat, potatoes, onions and other vegetables). The top pic is the macho meat surubí in Cochabamba.

- All soups (sopas) are excellent and not expensive at all.

- Finally, as the desserts are not the high country, you take the opportunity to taste the delicious fruits, which are found everywhere, in abundance: mangoes, oranges, papayas and co!
Beverages

- The water is not potable throughout Bolivia. Even in areas that benefit from water system safe to drink, the service is not continuous. We can therefore speak of water as a scarce resource. Prefer bottled water. Cheap mineral water are available in virtually every city.

- Bolivians take a hot drink, sweet and thick corn-based violet, cinnamon and cloves for breakfast. It's called api, and it's energy and burning!

Other popular hot drink in the morning, jugo quinoa, mix milk, quinoa and apple juice, vitamins very. The morning coffee is always mixed with the milk, otherwise the tintura (coffee concentrate) is really too Carabineer to drink in small black version. The mate de coca will be offered everywhere, especially as a welcome drink when you arrive in the heights. If you like the taste, feel free to try Trimate composed of coca, chamomile and anise.

- In Tarija, be sure to taste the Aloja, a sweet drink made from grains (wheat, corn or quinoa). You can enjoy the near basketball court, in the main market and around the cemetery.

- As for drinks, try the Papaya Salvietti. Apart from its exotic, it tastes like liquid gelatin terrible. You can also try the Coca Colla, on sale since spring 2010. This new soft drink has the color of Coca-Cola, a packaging and a similar name, but the comparison stops there. The word refers to the Colla indigenous peoples of the Bolivian Altiplano and the soda does contain extracts of coca leaves.

- The chicha (a drink made of corn and fruits) Bolivia is better than the Peruvian. In Santa Cruz, you may be surprised since there is often chicha consumed no alcohol.

- On another note: the Urquell in Prague, the best pilsener for connoisseurs of the world, has a serious competitor: the Paceña of La Paz. Teased Cochabamba is eaten fresh with a good dish gargantuan valley. The Huari Oruro and Potosina (from guess where) should not be overlooked.

- As for wines, the amateur will visit the region of Tarija, for a tour, tasting, local farms. Our favorites are the wines Concepción and Kohlberg.

- In Santa Cruz, try the Culip, alcohol from sugar cane. For those who prefer soft drinks, try the somo, a cool drink and delicious corn-based.

- The Singani, grappa Bolivia. Enjoy it as a cocktail: Chuflay, as pisco sour in Lima, yungueñito with orange juice or, best of the best, Tumbo cocktail with a tropical fruit of the Yungas.

- A word of caution: the Bolivians have a party "to Bacchus." Station then alcohol!