THE BEST STREET FOOD IN LA PAZ

La Paz is a city that eats on the go. There are thousands of food stands spread throughout the city that serve up a delicious array of food for an incredibly low price. The best street food can usually be found in the morning or in the evening as Bolivians prefer to have a large sit-down meal for lunch. Here is a break down of the most popular snacks available  on what to eat when hunger hits on the streets of La Paz.

fresh salteñas

Salteñas

Salteñas are the Bolivian version of the Latin American empanada and is the Bolivians way of beginning their day. Salteñas are jam -packed with meat, peas, carrots, potatoes and lots of sweet juice, all cooked inside an oven-baked pasty. The trick to eating a salteña without getting covered in its filling, is to take a bite out of one end and drink all the juice before finishing the rest. Visit Paceña La Salteña, who serve up the best selection of this tasty treat in La paz.

Salteñas

Tucumanas

Tucumanas are the fried version of salteñas, and are a lot easier to eat without getting messy. They are usually served up with many different delicious sauces of different sauces that add a different taste to each bite full allowing a different taste explosion with each serving. Tucumanas del Prado on Calle Mexico,  probably offer the best tucumanas in La Paz.

Tucumanas

Anticucho

Anticucho is a favourite amonst the carnivores with flame-grilled, cow’s heart accompanied with potato and a spicy peanut sauce. It is basically the Bolivian version of the kebab! Those who don’t find animals vital organs appealing should still give them a try, they are surprisingly tasty. An inexpensive dish that dates back hundreds of years, anticuchos are particularly popular with the evening party-goers, so look out for the local lady with a barbecue on wheels waiting outside bars at 2AM in La Paz.

Anticuchos

Choripan

As the name suggests, choripan consists of chorizo sausage and bread. This sausage sandwich  is served day and night, and is usually accompanied by lettuce, tomato and onions. A generous dose of yummy llawja, a spicy, tomato-based Bolivian sauce. The top floor of Mercado Lanza has a number of excellent choripan stands.

Choripanes con chimichurri

Sandwich de Chola

This traditional sandwich got its name because it’s typically served by a “cholita” indigenous woman. It comes packed with roast pork, pickled carrots and onions, fresh tomato, garlic and a variety of herbs and spices. In La Paz the favoured place to try this simple and delicious sandwich is at Parque de las Cholas and are the perfect accompaniment to a cold Paceña beer in the afternoon sun.

 Sandwich a la chola

Tripa

Tripa is only for the more adventurous traveller. This dish of fried cow intestines is a little chewy and a bitter aftertaste. Some people love it though and it certainly comes down to personal preference, give it a try!

 

Tripa

Api with buñuelos

Api is a thick purple corn drink served with cinnamon and sugar somewhat similar to “chicha morada” found in neighbouring Peru. The perfect accompaniment are hot fried buñuelos, which can be sweet or savoury and are often stuffed with cheese.Found all-year-round in most Bolivian cities, in both restaurants and at street-food stalls, api is normally served for breakfast. Originally from the Altiplano, this will take the edge off  the morning, high elevation chill.

Api

Pasankallas

This enormous, puffed, white corn, usually sugar coated, is Bolivia’s super-sweet take on popcorn and a great snack to take on long bus rides. Pasankallas are less crunchy than popcorn, but still just as addictive. Large bags of pasankallas can be found at most confectionery stands in La Paz, where the high altitude creates just the right low air pressure for perfect popping of the corn!

Pasankallas