New Tastes, New Craves

June 21, 2010

So, this week I’ve decided to dedicate the blog to the delicious food I’ve had since being here. This is in response to all the comments I’ve gotten about doing nothing but eating and drinking…and to a large extent that’s true! LOL….They say one of the best ways to learn a culture is to try the food. Well let me tell you something..... Sure every morning I enjoy a late breakfast including a bowl of fresh fruit and some excellent Marraquetas bread, also including some kind of fresh-squeezed juice, orange, pineapple, Mocochinchi (dried-peach), but I’ve a done some other things too…

However as both Mariel and I have been sick this week and not done anything much more exciting than watch Indiana Jones films, (which I find very exciting, and can you believe she hasn’t seen them????) so with a big thanks to Mariel for planning out a large menu of exciting new dishes for me to try, here is the food blog:

Now, keep in mind lunch is the big meal here, usually around 1:00pm, and that’s what you’ll see here in the pics. These pictures are sort of taken out of order, but I am making it a point to try everything. And believe it or not I haven’t had anything yet that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed.

Muchas, muchas gracias to Mariel, her mom, Wecky and Veronica for taking the time and extreme effort in making some of these local and mostly-local dishes.

Wecky and Veronica making some Canelones for Mariel's Birthday Lunch.

The final product...is that the Italian Flag?

Here's a picture of Paneton. It's a Christmas Cake, but Mariel was craving it for her birthday, so Wecky made five of them! They disappeared in one week...and it's not all my fault.

This one was # 3 I think.

Speaking of Italian food, here is the homade pizza we had just today! mmmmmmmm

Pizza-Celia: Hawaiian, Italian sausage, Anchovi and vegies.

Even the basic chicken soup was spectacular and it’s not even pictured here, and let’s not forget the scrumptious apple cake Wecky made that got eaten before we could get a picture of it.


Now for the more Boliviano traditional, here is a picture of Plato Paceño. Paceño is a word for a person from La Paz.

This is Choclo (corn), Papa k'ati (small potatoes), Haba a kind of big Lima bean, and Queso Frito (Fried Cheese). Of course this is eaten, like most meals, with Llajwa, (hot sauce).


Delicioso


This is another typical plate of La Paz called Chairo. Soup with lots of vegies and spices, three kinds of potatoes (papa, chuño, tunta), and lamb.

Notice the Llajwa in the bowl and the Marraquetas bread that goes with EVERYTHING!

And this is Silpancho, I hear it's Barbara's favorite.

Beef with fried egg, onions, tomatos and rice. It's a plate from Cochabamba.

Followed by Pastel de Quinua

This is made from cheese and Quinua, a seed, a natural product of Altiplano cultivated by the Incas.

And this is Ñoquis...hand rolled/mashed potatoe served with a meat sauce.

Ñoquis

This is Papas a la Huancaina. It's a Bolivian/Peruvian plate made of potatoes covered with a peanut sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, boiled eggs, cheese and olives.

And that brings us to my favorite: Pique Macho!!!!

A typical plate from Cochabamba, made with beef strips, french fries, onions, green pepers, boiled eggs, and sometimes hot-dogs...not this time, and depending on how MACHO you are you eat it with Locoto or chilies, or with Llajwa. Actually, it's hard to pick a favorite after trying everything. Salteñas are top of the list as well.


I'm Macho!!



And for the first time in over three weeks...some fast food: Pollo Copacabana. This a place that serves some excellent Fried Chicken. It's one of Mariel's favorite places to eat Chatarra (junk food). She says it's the best Fried Chicken in the World.



It was finger licking....shhhhh

So, how 'bout all that! If you want recipies, you'll have to get in touch with Mariel.

It hasn't all been food, but these are some of the highlights. Thanks for checking in. Next week, Mariel gets vacation time, and we are planning on doing some traveling. We are feeling a lot better and Mariel has even got her voice back now, so keep an eye out for some more adventures!

Chau!