Culinary Confessions

So I’ve been here for about 3 months so far, I think I can say that I have a good idea about the food here. The food here is somewhat similar to the food in the states…for example, some days my mom just ends up cooking macaroni and cheese or spaghetti for lunch. But there are also many days where I have typical Bolivian food, which I have really learned to like and appreciate.

Typically for breakfast I eat an empanada (empanadas are one of my favorite foods here) or I just have cereal. Empanadas usually come in 2 types, chicken and cheese. I prefer the chicken empanadas, they are so delicious and I can never stop wanting another empanada. Anyways, breakfast is usually small, especially compared to lunch. Lunch in Bolivia is the biggest meal of the day. My school ends at 12:30, so I get to eat lunch around 1:00. My host mom normally makes a salad, rice, a type of meat, and we always have fresh fruit after our lunch. Bolivians always have to have meat for lunch because food without meat isn’t food to Bolivians. I’m not used to having meat every single day, but I’m slowly getting used to it. A little while after the siesta (a siesta is the time after lunch, a lot people take naps during this time) Bolivians usually eat a very small dinner consisting of tea and bread.

Achachairu

Papaya Juice

Papaya

The fruits here in Bolivia are pretty different then the fruits that I eat in the U.S. There are many tropical fruits here that I didn’t know even existed. I have tried several new fruits here, they include (and I don’t know all of these names in English): papaya, peaches (I have had a peach before but only from a can), passion fruit, lima (this is not a lime, I just don’t know what it is in English), kiwi, avocado, pepino, cherimoya, and achachairu. Although I’ve tried a bunch of new fruits here, the fruits that I’ve tasted before have a different (better) taste. They all have a very sweet and rich taste, I think this is because all the fruits here are organic and fresh. Also, Bolivians always tend to juice all of their fruits. I have fallen in love with peach, pineapple, strawberry, and passion fruit juice. Bolivians eat fruits on a daily basis, and I am really enjoying all these tropical fruits!

Cherimoya

A really big pineapple

•             I tried a pineapple here once, and it was sooooo sweet and I couldn’t believe that I was eating a pineapple. It tasted so good. Also, the pineapple here are really big, but the really sweet tasting pineapples are tiny…they’re really cute and quite expensive!

  

  Pepino

Sonso (a traditional Bolivian dish made with yucca)

The typical food here in Bolivia is quite interesting. Bolivians tend to eat a lot of meat, beans, and different types of potatoes like the yucca. The yucca is a type of potato that originates in Bolivia. Yucca tends to be in a lot of Bolivian cuisine and it tastes pretty good. One food that I find very interesting is fried bananas. It’s basically just bananas sautéed with a little seasoning. I’ve tried it once I didn’t like but they do have banana chips here, and those are delicious.

•           So, today I didn’t have school because it was raining too much (in Bolivia you don’t have snow days you just have rain days, lol) so my host dad wanted to make hot chocolate. I just thought he was going to make hot milk and put in a chocolate mix in it, but instead he bought an all natural bar of chocolate and made the hot chocolate himself. It tasted so good and it was organic!

  

  Heating up the hot coco...

  

  Making natural hot coco!

Bolivians also love their meat. They eat a lot of meat and all types of meat. Sometimes they eat really weird types of meat like cow tongue and pig feet. It’s not very common but they do eat from time to time.

•             One night, my host family and I were at a fancy dinner and she made me try cow tongue. I can’t believe I actually ate it. It tasted really weird and chewy. I didn’t really like it so I probably won’t eat it again!
•             I also tried octopus for the first time in Bolivia. I was at a restaurant with my friends, and they all made me try it. I did not like it! It sort of tasted like fish but it was slimier.

Trying octupus!

My octupus dish!

The desserts in Bolivia are pretty good. I would say that the most popular dessert in Bolivia is flan. I like flan but it’s not amazing to me as it is to the Bolivians.  Sometimes my family just eats sweet bread for dessert. I am in love with the bread in Bolivia. There are so many types of bread here! I can’t get enough of it. The candy here is alright...the chocolate is definitely not as good as is in the states. They don't have my favorites types of chocolate here, but I will learn to survive without it. 

Flan

Brazo de Reina (a typical cake-type dessert in Bolivia)

My favorite foods in Bolivia

§  Papaya – Papaya is a tropical fruit that is very common in Bolivia, there’s even a papaya tree in my backyard and you can eat the papaya from the tree!

§  Dulce de leche – Dulce de leche is a spread made for pan. It looks just like caramel and is very creamy and sweet. It’s sort of like what peanut butter is to Americans, dulce de leche is to Bolivians (South Americans in general). I just love it soooo much, that I eat it by itself. Dulce de leche is definitely my new nutella. There are also churros and croissants here that have dulce de leche in the middle!!!!!

•             I made pancakes for my host sister (she loved them) and we ate them with dulce de leche. I can honestly say that I prefer to have my pancakes with dulce de leche rather than with maple syrup. I’ve become obsessed with dulce de leche. There’s also dulce de leche flavored ice cream!

  

  Pancakes with dulce de leche.....delicioso!

§  Empanadas – I love chicken empanadas. I have them probably 3 or more times each week.

Empanadas

§  Majorito – Majorito is a typical Bolivian dish. It is a rice dish and is usually served with an egg or fried bananas. It can either be served with beef or chicken, I prefer the chicken majorito with an egg on the side.

Majorito with a fried egg

§  Cunape – Cunape is a small bread and is usually eaten after the siesta. I normally eat cunape at my break time at school.

Cunape

   Milk – I don’t really drink that much milk in the states, but the milk here has a different taste. It tastes a bit sweeter and now I love drinking milk!