As with Peru, I intend to add to this blog.
Catus fruit: catus produce a soft fruit each year, covered in thorns. It is a soft fruit, purple or bright yellow in colour and needs to be cut open. The fruit though is beautifully sweet (not sickly), recommended.
I’ve included a photo of another fruit I got from the market (need to find its name out). Eaten as you see it, skin and all is a combination of sweet and mostly sour or sharp like an orange. Brought a bag of 15 and, as lovely as they are eating more than 2 is impossible.
Chocolate is a national obsession with each region producing its own. Sucre, a city in central Bolivia, has some of the best so I am looking forward to trying that. However Enrique had some from the north of the country, this is very strong and not to be eaten like a chocolate bar but added to hot drinks. It looks like a normal bar of chocolate and you can either add it to water or milk, I tried both and honestly prefer it with water.
Most dishes are served with rice or/and chips, generally not spicy (although they give you a spicy sauce to add).
Sauntee (yes I know its spelt wrong) is like a pastry, for which they add meat or/and vegetables, really filling, but they make it in the morning, so get it while fresh!
Anticucho- An interesting dish they have here is cow’s heart. It is served from street stalls with a spicy peanut butter sauce and potatoes. The meat is like eating tender liver cut into thin slices, really not bad.
They have a drink here called ‘api’ (pronounced- ‘appy), its served hot, is non alcoholic and a mix of red and milky white. It is made from maize, the taste though is indescribably, not unpleasant; so if you get a chance try it.
Minta- Triangular in shape and comes wrapped in a dried banana leaf it is made of maize (picture a thick dough) and is bit bigger than the size of your hand. Slightly sweet but otherwise tasteless, great for filling you up but would not be one of my recommendations.
For breakfast the other day had a sandwhich made with avocado and a slice of cheese, add salt to flavour (I don’t usually add salt but worked in this instance). Really enjoyable (nothing to do with the fact I had a terrible hangover and was in need of food, as can be shown by photo…)
Sopa Mani- Does anyone know what ‘mani’ is? Slighty thick soup, milky in colour with what I assume are green herbs floating in it. Added is pasta and beef (which is usually very fatty or chewy). Again not unpleasant but can’t imagine Jamie Oliver rushing to add it to his next book. [Figured out what ‘Mani’ is- peanut. I’ve eaten this soup in several different restaurants and places and never got the taste of peanut, so serious??!!]
Caranbola- Easy to describe this: spaghetti bolognese with potatoe. What makes it interesting is that they apparently have 30 different types of potato and it is a lottery which variety you get. The funny part was that they gave me a spoon to eat it with…..
Slipancho- a popular dish here, where rice and fries/chips (these seem to come with most meals) are put on the plate, meat is then layered over them (very thin and reminds me of kebab meat). A fried egg and finely chopped tomatoes and onions added, spicy sauce is then offered as a side if required (the spicyness will change from place to place so be aware). If you are hungry this dish will do the trick (great hangover food, apparently).
Restaurants often don’t supply paper napkins which you might be use to but simple cut up bits of cheap paper. These unfortunately don’t tend to absorb any of the greece from you hands and just move the food around your face (as opposed to wiping it off).
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