Salteñas

Sucre, Bolivia — named for Juana Manuela Gorriti, who fled Salta (Argentina) and sold these pastries in Sucre to fund her exile; the dish has Bolivian national identity despite its Salta name

Bolivia's most beloved morning pastry — oval-shaped, oven-baked pastries with a brilliant amber crust crimped in an elaborate decorative pattern along the top, filled with a thick, aromatic broth-based stew of chicken or beef with potato, peas, olives, hard-boiled egg, and a hot-sweet sauce that should be juicy enough to drip when the pastry is bitten. The technical challenge of the salteña is the juicy filling: the stew is gelatinised with gelatin before filling, creating a solid filling at room temperature that melts to a saucy liquid during baking. If the seal is imperfect or the gelatin insufficient, the broth escapes through the pastry during baking. The dough is sweet and slightly spicy — sugar and dried chilli in the pastry itself — and baked at very high heat (250°C) for 15–18 minutes until a dramatic golden-brown.

Morning food only — Bolivian tradition dictates salteñas are eaten before noon; sold at salteñerías that close by midday; pairs with api (purple maize hot drink) or café con leche; eating a salteña cleanly is a social art form