South America

would you eat this man's food?

Would you eat this seafood? I would!

That's probably why I'm always sick. Two men row up and offer shrimp seviche, and of course, I'm the first one to grab it. It is quite good and tastes fresh, but who knows? Swimming in fresh water, eating raw seafood - my doctor is going to have a field day when I get back.

I love Maracuya

Maracuya is unripened passionfruit. I first fell in love with it in Bolivia, and it followed me all the way north to the Colombian coast. Here, they make milshakes on the beach with it. It is awesome. Do we have it, or anything like it, in the states?

Let a brother know.

Chicken flavored chips - Pollo Apoyo

Frito Lay is on to something in Colombia - chicken flavored potato chips. They come in at least two different chicken flavor varieties, for all your chicken chip snacking needs.

"Chicken In A Biskit", eat your heart out.

Two meats today in Bolivia for me

I have eaten two meats today, and only two. I shall tell you all about them.

For lunch, I stopped into my favorite local Almuerzo joint for the wednesday special. At most places, it´s meatballs or a gelatinous substance mysteriously called "false rabbit." At my favorite local, it´s spicy rack of lamb.

Yup, every wednesday here in Sucre I eat bread, soup, rack of lamb in aji sauce, and wash it down with a banana and some fresh juice for about $0.60. It´s really lovely, actually, and I challenge any gringo eating at an overpriced gringo restauarant with english translated items to beat or even come close to my lunch deal.

(picture solten from the interweb) What´s more, I decided to get a charque emapanada for dinner. Charque is dried Alapaca meat, and tastes pretty much like steak. Alpaca, the most popular animal historically in Bolivia, is like a wooly llama. MMMMmMMMMM!

Ya No Hay: Salteñerias

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.

CORN NUTS! WOOHOOO!

If I didn't already love the absynthe bar enough, they serve their own homemade corn nuts for free.

Don't they just LOOK good? Well, they are. I'm gonna get me a recipe and make these when I get back to the states, so sit tight.

TODO POLLO!

It´s all chicken. ALL chicken, here in Cochabamba. It was mostly chicken back in La Paz, as well.

Though it´s a refreshing change from the all-steak-all-week Buenos Aires, but chicken can get a bit tiring as well.

Chicken from the Broaster is the most popular, AKA heavily deep fried a la Wisconsin. I think that kind is a bit unhealthy, so I prefer Al Spiedo, or on the spit. Lots of places have standalone Rotisserie chicken cookers, powered by the infamous Bolivian gas tank, to make that happen. Lastly, some places are brave enough to grill or even bake a chicken, though it seems far less popular because of the big bolivian appetite for grease.

In case you are shopping around, Chicken (prepared how you like) with rice, plantains, and fries for two usually costs aroud US$1.50. Buen Provecho.

Cochabamba food time

This one is for you, South American foodies. I think I have found the Rosetta Stone of food deals.

It is a little hard to tell from the pic, mostly because we finished our fresh vegetable course already, but Liz and I where served one of the world´s best value dinners ever. For US$3 combined, we ate grilled steak and chicken like crazy, and drank fresh Chicha ( don´t even ask me what it is) at quite the nice steakhouse. It even had huts.

So far, this had to be the best deal I´ve come across in South American food. If you are in Cochabamba, check out La Braza Roja.