If my time in La Paz has been marked by any single thing, it has been great food. And I'm not talking mostly good food; I'm talking about everyday having at least one fantastic meal.
In terms of food, Bolivia's staples are not so different from the rest of Latin America: fish, beef and chicken are your primary meats, normally accompanied by potatoes or some sort or rice, and an assortment of vegetables, either raw, steamed or grilled. I am not any sort of prodigy in the kitchen, so I couldn't tell you where the magic is, but whatever is done to these basic aforementioned foods is incredible.
My personal favorite thus far has been a Bolivian specialty (whose name currently escapes me) which consists of seasoned beef and sausage diced and mixed with a medley of grilled vegetables over rice, garnhished with a couple of diced, hardboiled eggs. Spicy but delicious. A close second is a grilled trout and vegetables on a bed of fried potatoes, garnished with two lime quarters, to help bring out the flavor. Stupendous!
What makes such delicious meals even more appealing to the tourist is that they are available in most good restaurants at a really good price, largely as a result of the weakness of Bolivia's currency, the boliviano, in comparison to many other major currencies. A full dinner (appetizer, entree, and two beverages) that in the U.S. would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 can be enjoyed for about 80 bolivianos, or about $10, and that's on the expensive side. That said, for those of you who might have been worried about how I'm eating, you know see that you have nothing to worry about.
Not yet at least.
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1 comment:
Chas, get some recipes of your favorite dishes I can work on them, and for food memories! Not that you don't have enough to write about, but it could be big fun talking about your trek and tasting it also!
I am getting great flashbacks to my early travels from your blog.
Uncle S
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