Bolivian cuisine

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Salteñas

Bolivian cuisine stems mainly from the combination of Spanish cuisine with traditional native Bolivian ingredients, with later influences from Germans, Italians, Basques, Croats, Russians, and Poles, due to the arrival of immigrants from those countries. The three traditional staples of Bolivian cuisine are corn, potatoes and beans. These ingredients have been combined with a number of staples brought by the Spanish, such as rice, wheat and meat, such as beef, pork, and chicken.

Ingredients

Mealtimes

Breakfast (desayuno)

Bolivians tend to eat a very simple breakfast, usually consisting of tea or sometimes coffee, and marraqueta bread rolls. Occasionally cheese, honey or jam is taken. A more native breakfast beverage is api, also known as chicha morada, served hot. In the market of Copacabana, buñuelos, drizzled with cane syrup, are an extremely popular breakfast treat. Much like in the U.S., children are often served breakfast cereal and milk in the morning. This sort of breakfast is becoming popular with Bolivian adults as well.

Mid-morning snack

Since breakfast is usually very light and simple, the customary Bolivian snack at 10:30 AM is an empanada known as the salteña, often consumed with more api, coffee, or a soft drink such as a Coca-Cola or a Papaya Salvietti.

Lunch (almuerzo)

Almuerzo is the most important meal of the Bolivian day, so much so that daily life tends to revolve around it. Long lunches are traditional throughout the country, so businesses and shops often close between the hours of 12 and 3pm, so that the workers have time to return home for lunch. A typical Bolivian lunch would consist of several courses, including a soup, a main course of meat, rice and potatoes, then a dessert and coffee.[1] Lunch is taken at a leisurely pace and is traditionally followed by a nap, the oft-referred siesta.

Teatime (té)

Strangely, and very much like the British, Bolivians observe an afternoon tea break. Usually the tea breaks take place around 4 and 5 in the afternoon at salones de té' (tea rooms). These tea rooms often double as bakeries so that tea and pastries are enjoyed together.[2] Cups of black tea are usually taken with biscuits such as galletas Maria. Often, Bolivians drink yerba maté in place of the more common black tea.

Dinner (cena)

La cena is a lighter, much more informal affair than lunch that typically takes place later than a typical American supper, usually 8 PM or later. Popular among many Bolivians for dinner is ramen noodles, often combined with leftovers from almuerzo, or merely the leftovers themselves.

See also

References

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 This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)
  1. ^ Traditional Cuisine. bolivia-guide.com Retrieved 2012-03-22
  2. ^ Bolivian Food Customs and Traditions. BolivianBella.com Retrieved 2012-03-22
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