Bolivian Saltenas

Welcome to Bolivia. Bolivia is the highest and most isolated country in South America. It is an incredibly diverse country, 40% of all animals and plants can be found in Bolivia. Some animals found here are the pink dolphin, jaguars, and spectacles bears. It is known for its Witches Market. It is also known for its San Pedro Prison. Thus prison allows its prisoners freedom inside it walls and inmates are even allowed to live with their families. This place acts more like a hotel that inmates most purchase themselves. Inside there is childcare, alcohol and pure cocaine.

Guinea pigs are considered a national delicacy in Bolivia. However I went for a much more regular dish the Bolivian Saltena. This is a savory baked empanada with beef and chicken. I used a recipe found on Chipa by the Dozen. https://chipabythedozen.com/en/saltenas-bolivian-empanadas/ I am going to add a picture from their website as mine were not pretty!

The inside of the Saltena was a simple mix of chicken, potatoes, pepper and onions. This mixture is then given some gelatin and time in the fridge to make a thick pastry filling. The dough was a bit trickier. The dough gets its distinct color from urucú. This comes from achiote shrub found in South America. I subsituted this with some paprika to give the dough its orangish hue.

Then comes the arduous process of making each small Saltena. You are supposed to make a ribbon closing along the top which I failed at. My dough was too thick this time and should of let them sit in the fridge a little longer.

As you can see mine just sort of collapsed on its self making a thicker single closing. The filling and dough was still delicious though.

These were tasty but alot of work. I also made more than a few mistakes along the way. If I'm ever in Bolivia I will be sure to try the real thing! I give this dish a 7 out of 10 only because of the amount of work that goes into making them.

Check in next time for Botswanian Seswaa.

Current Rankings:

3rd place Argentina's Asado

2nd place Bosnia Herzegovina's Cevapi and Lepinje

1st place Belgium's Steak Frites