Bolivia, if you know where it is (South America, dummies) you know that there’s more to the county than llamas and traditional woven cloths. They also have streets and food. Hence ‘street food’.

Travel writer Gwynne takes us on a quick trip through the streets of Bolivia to show us Bolivian street food culture 101.

 

Breakfast

 Juice carts speckle street corners and plazas throughout the country. For 50 cents you can buy yourself fresh squeezed orange, grapefruit or mandarin juice.

 

 

Lunch

Salteñas are tasty pastries that are served in the morning up until around midday. You can find them being sold out of ice chests in bus stops, deep-fried in carts on street corners, or even in the occasional restaurant. Stuffed with either meat or chicken, they mix a tantalizing combo of sweet, savory and spicy. These little monsters were aptly described by a fellow traveler as “taco filling wrapped in corn bread” (Even though the dough is actually made from regular flour.)

 

 

Dinner

If you want more than a quick snack but are still stingy as hell, never fear. In Bolivia’s Mercado Centrales or (Central Market Places) in cities all over the country you can get full-on, home-cooked street meals that come in huge portions all for about $2 US dollars.

 

Dessert

No street meal would be complete without a little street dessert. Luckily for us, this will be easy to accomplish thanks to the plethora of dessert carts you’ll find. Jello, cool whip, milk shakes, weird green juice, what more could your sweet tooth ask for?

 

About the author

Gwynne is an avid street food devourer, journalist, and wine guide based out of Mendoza, Argentina. Currently, she is on the road through Bolivia writing about her experiences at The Heat and the Noise