Things We Ate On The Street: Bolivia

Bolivian street food was oh-so-good to us that we have come up with some awards for our favorite delicacies.

Grand prize snackmaster winner: The snack to end all snacks was the saltena. No other street fare has come even close (except for Uganda’s chapati, which we still drool over in our sleep). The name comes from their original place of origin: Salta, Argentina. But today, they are a purely Bolivian treat. Calling them a derivation of an empanada doesn’t do them justice. The outer baked dough is slightly sweet and envelops an inner filling of chicken, beef or veggies, all liberally dosed with a drippy, slurpy, secret sauce of intoxicating goodness.

They are usually only available mid-morning and completely worth dragging yourself out of bed. We did extensive research and found the most delicious ones were in Potosi and at artisanal saltenerias in La Paz. But really you should eat them wherever you are, as often as you can.

Most abnormally large fruit that still tastes normal: Check out that avocado! It’s as big as Kathleen’s head! And that’s only a quarter of it. Bolivia’s fruits and veggies were great. As, surprisingly, was the red wine from Tarija. Cheers!

Best shopping experience: We read about an order of cloistered nuns who sell pickled fruit through a revolving door at their convent, and we couldn’t resist the intrigue. Sure enough, you knock on the door, politely ask the hidden Sister if you might buy some pickled lemons, let your money be spun away from you, and await your heavenly treat. The lemons themselves were a bit sweet on their own, but would have been delightful over ice-cream had we had some.

Best Fresh Vitamin C: Oh beloved grapefruit squeezer, how we adored you! Tart and delicious! And you reminded us of the sugar cane press in Egypt that was such a hit. Worth noting is that Eric was not actually allowed to operate the machinery. They have professionals for that.

Best salty snack: Oh when the cold breeze whips down your jacket, there’s nothing like some hot buttered popcorn on your way home.

Best snack that looked like dog food: Giant puffed maize. Sold in giant plastic sacks. For giant-sized hunger!

Best medicinal snack: Chewing coca leaves saved us on many a high-altitude endeavor, as they warded off headaches, fatigue, and hunger. You simply wad a bunch of them between your cheek and gum, and swallow the juice as you traipse along. Adding an alkaloid like lime ash (which is similar to a small rock) helps draw out the medicinal benefits. The beneficial effects of coca leaf chewing are well documented, but the plant remains hugely controversial for obvious reasons (i.e. it’s lucrative derivative cocaine). The U.S., among others, is always wanting to eradicate coca fields and ties political favors to the success of ending the war on drugs. It’s a shame, as coca leaves play an important role historically, spiritually, and practically in the lives of most Bolivians (and indeed most Andean countries). Politically it’s a hot issue, and t-shirts proclaiming (in Spanish) that coca leaves are not a drug are hugely popular among the backpacking set.

Most unlikely place to get chocolate: Who knew that Ghirardelli’s came from the jungle? Well, probably a lot of people, actually. But still, it was fun to see cacao in its original pod form hanging from a tree. Crack that baby open to reveal a squishy mass of hard seeds (the cacao beans) nestled in white slime. Really, much tastier than it sounds, as you slurp off the goo to suck on the bean.

Things We Ate On The Street: Chile

You know, we really didn`t do Chile justice with regard to street food. Without a doubt, there are many more streetside culinary creations than we were able to sample. But since we were mostly camping in Chile, and then in larger cities, we didn`t get to get our fingers nearly as greasy as we should have. That being said, it`s worth noting a few treats. First of all, submarinos. Now, these may technically be Argentine and are more a cafe than street delicacy, but we ate them in Chile. Basically, when you ask for hot chocolate, you get a glass of warm milk and a chocolate bar shaped like a submarine to dunk in at will. Brilliant!

And, of course, there were empanadas to be had. Cheesy streetside goodness. And by the time we got to San Pedro de Atacama, we were passing more salt flats than we had time to lick. But our two favorite treats were ones that we sadly didn`t capture on film. Choripan and mote con huespillas (spelling vague). The former was barbecued for us by Becca and Gonzalo, our insanely generous and lovely Santiago hosts. We had asked them about the latter, because we saw it being sold everywhere in Santiago out of rolling carts. It wasn`t in our dictionary, and we were a little wary about the dark floating bits. They explained that it was a Santiago specialty of barley soaked in sugary peach juice with peach bits added. And then, like the gracious and thoughtful duo that they are, they prepared them at home. We, too, will soon prepare this at home for any and all who want to come by! Yum!

Things We Ate On The Street: Argentina

It seems like we should have more to post in this entry, as we literally ate our way through Argentina, but streetside vendors seemed to be less popular in the regions we visited. For the most part, we ate tons of delicious helado (ice cream) whenever we could buy it (which was almost always). Taking their Italian gelato roots and doing them one better (we didn't know it was possible!), the ice-cream in Argentina is the best we've ever had, and we've done some pretty thorough research. Our other favorite streetfood was the pan relleno, delicious homemade bread stuffed with anything from corn and carrots to ham and cheese. We even managed to get Eric's parents involved in this special culinary mission. Buen provecho!

Things We Ate On The Street: Brazil

To be honest, Brazil promised a bit more than it offered in terms of street food. The selection was wide, to be sure, but there were more culinary disappointments than we were accustomed to. Of course, we may have just hit vendors on an off day, you never know.

When we got to Bahia, we were eager to try the acaraje (fried balls of manioc with shrimp and curry tucked inside), but they didn`t prove to be solid crowd pleasers. Equally, the much-anticipated round coconut treats ended up being a bit too sickly sweet for our taste. And the Brazilian penchant for Halls (you know, the cough medicine lozenges) eluded us, but they were sold on every corner like candy.

Don`t get us wrong, there were more than a few winners. Cafezinho, a strong, sweet, dark concoction wheeled around in little carts and served up by the thimbleful, kept us going until the wee hours with its delicious caffeinated bliss. In fact, pretty much all of the drinkable treats were divine. Including, of course, the immensely addictive caipirinha (sugar-cane based cachaca, lime, sugar, and ice) and its refreshingly rehydrating counterpart, agua de coco (coconut water). There was an amazing selection of sucos (fresh juices) all over the country---acerola (an Amazonian berry with lots of antioxidants), guava, mango, cupuacu (an unidentified Amazonian fruit with a creamy sweet soft taste), passion fruit...we did our best to try them all. Sometimes they were mixed with alcohol (batida), a refreshing way to watch the sun go down. The one that always had us coming back for more was acai, a purplish goo often served with granola that tastes much better than it sounds. Eric had one every single day in Jericoacoara. Kathleen also made the delicious mistake of trying a capeta in Jeri. It was a milkshake-like cocktail made with guarana, an Amazonian extract that made her heart race and kept her up for hours. Eric dubbed it ´plant-meth´ and forbade her from ordering it again.

Popcorn, tapioca treats, and brigadeiros (a fudgey brownie rolled in chocolate sprinkles) rounded out the delicious ways Brazilians fed their sweet tooths. And our favorite street treat, discovered just two days before we left the country, were late-night crepes. While not particularly Brazilian, as they were sold by a soft-spoken French hippie who wandered the streets of Sao Luis after dark, they were insanely good. We dubbed him the Gentle Crepe Man, as he had long hair neatly tucked back, doe eyes, and an earnest sales pitch. We did not feel gentle towards him, however, when he ran out of chocolate crepes before he got to us on our last night. Come to think of it, the street food was pretty damn good. Maybe just avoid the acarajes.

Things We Ate on the Street: Malawi

While Malawi lacked the diversity of street side snacks on offer that Tanzania flaunted, the drive-through produce market more than made up for it. Crammed into a mini-bus with chickens, children, bags of grain, luggage, gas cans, and overloaded baskets, it was virtually impossible to move or put your feet on the ground. However when we passed through an agricultural area, local farmers would thrust fresh carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, garlic, corn, radishes, and potatoes through the windows.

It was utter chaos, but somehow we all made room for a few veggie essentials as we trundled by. One time the man next to us stuffed six heads of lettuce down between his legs (as his lap was already occupied balancing his little boy, his bag, and a basket full of linens). Yum!

Another Malawian treat was Chibuku, the International Beer. It came in a milk carton, you had to shake it, it was usually warm, and it was kinda chunky. We´re fairly certain that it´s not giving Anchor Steam a run for its money.

Truthfully there was one delicacy on offer in Malawi that we didn’t try: barbecued mice. Evidently when they burn the fields to clear them for planting, all the field mice run out and local kids run and collect them to grill and sell by the roadside. We saw them being proffered, but our bus (luckily) didn’t stop.

Things We Ate on the Street: Tanzania

So far, Tanzania is the hands-down King of Things We Ate on the Street. There was the corn….boiled and barbecued, we tried it all! The sugar cane---they one-upped our earlier Egyptian delight by adding ginger and honey to the juice in Zanzibar. Divine! But it was also quite good just straight from the cane---and we soon had sticky hands and faces just like all the little kids.

The Mecca of street food was Zanzibar, where the night bazaar in Stone Town’s Forodani Gardens offered everything from land (Zanzibar pizzas with egg, cheese, and tomato or chocolate and banana) and sea (octopus, calamari, snapper, kingfish, snapper). Every conceivable type of meat was grilled to order, and fresh sliced pineapple was on offer as you walked home.

But what we really should have called this one is ‘Things you can eat from the bus window,’ because that’s where we ended up doing a lot of our grocery shopping. The minute our bus (and there were many long-distance bus trips) slowed down even slightly, the vendors would spill out onto the pavement offering loads of treats balanced on their heads or extended out on sticks. Fancy an egg? Some cashews? A new pair of shoes? A stool? A new cell phone? Hair pick? Wallet? Passport cover? Salad tongs? The selection was tremendous. Although we tended to stick to the bananas, nuts, and biscuits.

Another highlight of Tanzanian street food was the local homebrew. On our trek through the Usambara mountains, we finally figured out why we only see women and children on the street. It’s because all the men were holed up in the local tavern swilling boha, the sugar cane fermented local beer, and it’s more potent and stronger liquor cousin. We happily swilled the former, but steered clear of the latter, as we’d read stories of batches going awry, resulting in multiple deaths.

Things we ate on the street: Uganda

Bujagali Chapati Company, how we love you. Your simple roadside shanty lit by kerosence, where day and night you fill our bellys with freshly fried dough stuffed with egg and cheese (lunch), avocado and tomato (dinner), and bananas and honey (breakfast). The best 50-cent meal we've ever consumed. Thank you. Thank you.

Things we ate on the street: Egypt

Admittedly, keeping up this blog has proved far more difficult than we had hoped. Power outtages, painfully slow connections, limited access to computers, and other forces beyond our control have prevented us from being able to write like we would like. But we're still going to try and send word when we can. And we'd like to add two new features: Things we ate on the street and Eric's haircuts around the world. This is because we're realizing that these two experiences are some of our richest and most memorable.

In Egypt, our favorite street snacks were sucre kassap (sp?) and mango juice. Sucre kassap was where they ran sugarcane through some sort of contraption that mashed the cane into a pulp and just extracted the juice. Somehow the coils that worked this magic also made the juice incredibly cold without adding ice (which would have been murder for our fragile American bellys). Our friend Daniel, who was studying Arabic in Cairo, introduced us to this treat, and we raised a toast to him everytime we took a swill of the murky brownish delight.

Our other favorite was the fresh mango juice. You had to drink it standing up at the corner of some sidewalk stand, where they would simply mash the mango into a drinkable form and pour it into a glass that you hoped would be clean. This treat saved us from heat stroke returning from the pyramids and restored our good humor on many an occasion! Three Egyptian cheers for fresh mangoes!