Altiplano Bolivian
Salteñas: morning juicy empanadas.
Salteñas
Bolivia's juicy breakfast empanada
View page →La Paz sits at 3,500 meters above sea level — the highest capital in the world — and the food has evolved to thin air, intense sun, and cold nights. The defining bite is the salteña: a baked half-moon empanada whose filling is so juicy with stewed meat, potato, pea, raisin, olive, and gelatin-rich broth that it threatens to spill the moment you bite. So Paceños eat them only in the morning, only standing, only leaning forward over a napkin — a sequence of motions every Bolivian learns young. The rest of the altiplano table runs on potato (3,000+ native varieties, the original Andean food), quinoa, freeze-dried chuño, and llama or sheep. Sopa de maní is a creamy peanut soup with potato and pasta. Api morado is the breakfast purple-corn drink, drunk hot with cheese pastries. The Aymara indigenous foundation underpins everything.
Start Here
Solidify gelatin-rich stew in fridge overnight, cube it, wrap in dough, crimp with repulgue twist, bake until juice bubbles inside. Eat standing.
Why start here · Bolivia in one bite. The juicy interior is achieved through gelatin chemistry — once you make these you understand high-craft Andean baking.
The Pantry
See all 28 ingredients›
Proteins
Vegetables
Fruits
Grains & Staples
Dairy & Fats
Sauces & Condiments
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
Other regions
Siblings within Bolivian — each its own tradition.