Salteñas are delicious meat-filled specialty pastries available across Bolivia between the hours of 9am and noon. They are addictively scrumptious, and what´s more, they are specifically renowned in Sucre for their flavor and spice.
Salteñerias, shops which sell absolutely nothing but salteñas and a drink, are open only during the according hours. This all leads us to my amazing discovery, the morning when I waited for 30 minutes in a salteñeria only to be casually told there where no salteñas.
I walked into the salteña shop at 10:00 on a saturday morning, a little rough around the edges. I sat down at one of the 4 tables in the tiny store. The staff, which are of course also the owners, even offered me the paper to read for free. I really wanted a Salteña. The old owner-looking man glanced at me and said they would be ready in ten minutes. I ordered a coffee from him, which he served silently to me 5 minutes later.
About 15 minutes later, as people who arrived after I did where served salteñas without asking, I became suspisicous. Liz, who was with me and arguably more hung-over, was furious. After over 20 minutes had elapsed, still with no food delivery, I got up from my table and asked the salteña lady where my salteñas where. And, oh, did she answer:
Ya no hay. Ya no hay salteñas.
It was closing in on 11am already. Liz and I had spent over 30 minute waiting for the one food product that this restaurant sells, and there where none left. At first, we thought we where getting special Gringo treatment (i.e. - get out whitey), but soon many other local Sucreños came and went incredulously from the shop. Though we should have been served first, they did honestly run out of the one product they offer, and it´s a product they only offer for a 3 hour window.
I will reserve my comments on how this reflects on Bolivian businesses as a whole for now, and only say it might make sense to always have extra on hand when you don´t even have another product to offer your customers. That morning, another local shop sold 20BS worth of breakfast to two hungry gringos because of the first shop´s salteña inneficiency.
Beyond that, Liz is so offended by the service that she will never go back to the salteñeria without salteñas. I tend to agree. The culprit was "Salteñas Al Horno," hated local breakfast pastry shop.
If you're looking to try some saltenas in the states!:
www.buysaltenas.com
Posted by: kristy | April 08, 2007 at 04:39 PM
check out the poster´s Saltena shop, and let us all know how it is.
p.s. - I tried Saltenas in Peru, and they where nothing NOTHING compared to Sucre, Bolivia. That is one delicious food product.
Anyone know if they are in the states?
Posted by: agustin | June 04, 2005 at 05:35 PM
First, excuse my english, im a little bit rusty, any way, im so sorry for your experience witn salteñas, Im one of the owners of a sateñeria in Bolivia LOS CASTORES, we offer a great product made of chicken or meet, we have three flavors, sweet or not spicy for chisldren, regular hot and super hot, I garantie a fabulous product for yo, a great service, a nice and clean place to eat, with your family or friends. And I promise that if you eat a salteña from los castores, you will be eating the best Salteña of Bolivia
Posted by: alejandra | June 04, 2005 at 01:21 PM
You make mi mouth water 'till I cannot take it any more.
Posted by: MB | April 21, 2005 at 02:37 PM
lomo saltado [sp?]. remember that place pollo campero in MD we went to back in the day that Marcelo brought me to? go get you some.
Posted by: dragonballyee | April 20, 2005 at 12:48 PM