A deep-fried, crescent-shaped pastry stuffed with seasoned meat, potato, egg and peas, eaten on the street with a battery of squeeze-bottle sauces.
The tucumana is the fried cousin of the baked salteña, named for migrants and influences from Tucuman in neighboring Argentina. In Bolivia it became its own street-food institution, especially in La Paz and Cochabamba, where vendors line up bottles of peanut, chili and herb sauces for customers to drown their pastry.
The shell shatters into crisp, blistered flakes giving way to a juicy, savory meat-and-potato filling. Layered with the vendor's sauces it turns tangy, nutty and fiery all at once. It is the quintessential greasy, satisfying Bolivian street bite.
Deep frying flash-cooks the thin dough into a crisp, air-pocketed shell while sealing in the moisture of the pre-cooked filling, creating the signature contrast of shatter-crisp exterior and juicy interior.
Variations
chicken filling, beef filling, spicy version, with extra hard-boiled egg
On the Palate
Where Tucumana Bolivian sits in the Bolivian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min
- 140 min
Make a dough with flour, fat, salt and warm water; rest it.
- 220 min
Cook diced meat with onion, potato, peas and spices into a thick filling.
Watch outCook the filling down thick and let it cool before wrapping — a wet, warm filling steams the dough soft and it won't fry crisp.
- 38 min
Mix in chopped hard-boiled egg and let the filling cool.
- 410 min
Roll the dough thin and cut into rounds.
- 515 min
Place filling on each round, fold and crimp the edges shut.
Watch outCrimp the edges tightly shut — any gap lets oil in and the juices out during the fry.
- 68 min
Heat oil to frying temperature in a deep pot.
- 712 min
Deep-fry the pastries until puffed and golden brown.
Watch outFry until puffed and golden-brown — the thin shell inflates as steam builds inside, sealing in the juicy filling.
- 82 min
Drain and serve hot with peanut, chili and herb squeeze sauces.
