Salteña

The salteña is a baked empanada with a golden, slightly sweet dough, sealed with a braided edge. The filling, called jigote, is juicy: chopped meat or chicken, potato, red ají, onion, cumin, oregano, olive, raisin and hard-boiled egg, in a thickened broth that becomes liquid after baking. It is eaten mid-morning, as a snack before lunch, across the country.

In 2014, Law 485 declared the “Salteña Potosina” a national heritage of Bolivia, along with other dishes from the Potosí department. The Potosí Gobernación points to it as a dish of the central region, of the city. The Potosí recipe registered by the Gobernación uses flour, egg, sugar and fat in the dough, and ox feet in the broth.

The origin is disputed. Potosí historians cite the 1776 cookbook of doña Josepha de Escurrechea, considered the only colonial recipe book found in Bolivia: it already contains empanadas, which confirms they were made in Potosí, though it does not prove the current broth-filled form. In 2012, the municipality of La Paz also included the salteña on its list of traditional gastronomy declared a municipal heritage, which provoked protests in Potosí.

The name is another point of debate. The best-known version says “salteña” recalls families who came from Salta, Argentina, in the 19th century, including the family of writer Juana Manuela Gorriti, who are said to have sold empanadas in Tarija or La Paz. Potosí researchers maintain that the Bolivian empanada already existed and only later received that name. The Bolivian salteña, with broth, is different from the Argentine empanada salteña.

Eating it without spilling the broth is part of the custom: hold the salteña upright with the braided edge up, make a small bite at the tip and sip the broth before continuing with the filling.