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Dish · Cochabamba
Pique macho
Platter to share, with beef strips, sausage, French fries, onion, tomato, locoto and boiled egg. Created in Cochabamba, it was chosen in 2019 as the department's most representative dish.
Flavors · Cochabamba
Silpancho
Layered dish from Cochabamba: rice, boiled and fried potato, a very thin breaded steak, fried egg and a salad of onion, tomato and locoto. The name comes from Quechua and means flattened and thin.
Traditional dish from Cochabamba, Cochabamba
Also known as: Sillp'anchu, Sillpancho
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Silpancho — Cochabamba, Bolivia
Silpancho is a layered dish. At the base there is white rice and potatoes that are boiled and then fried. On top, a beef steak is pounded until very thin and wide, coated in breadcrumbs and fried, covering almost the entire plate. On the steak go one or two fried eggs and a salad of chopped onion, tomato and locoto, seasoned with salt, oil and lime.
The name comes from the Quechua sillp'anchu, which means flattened and thin, like the steak. Press sources attribute the creation to Celia La Fuente Peredo (1928–2008), at her restaurant in downtown Cochabamba.
Silpancho is one of the dishes most closely associated with Cochabamba. In the Gobernación’s 2019 vote to choose the department’s most representative dishes, it ranked among the top five.
The city also produced the trancapecho, the sandwich version: the steak, rice, potato, egg and salad are placed inside bread. The name plays on the feeling of a sandwich so stuffed that it “locks the chest.”
Silpancho spread throughout Bolivia and reached Bolivian restaurants in other countries, but in Cochabamba the portions tend to be large, in the city’s style.
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Where it comes from
Cochabamba , Cochabamba
Dish born in Cochabamba, ranked among the five most representative dishes of the department in the Gobernación’s 2019 vote.
Ingredients
White rice, boiled and fried potatoes, beef steak pounded very thin and breaded in breadcrumbs, fried eggs and a salad of onion, tomato and locoto seasoned with salt, oil and lime.
How it is eaten
On a single plate, with the steak covering the rice and potato and the egg and salad on top. You eat it with fork and knife, mixing the layers.
When it is eaten
All year round, for lunch or dinner.
Your questions
Questions about Silpancho
What does silpancho mean?
It comes from the Quechua sillp'anchu, which means flattened and thin, like the pounded steak in the dish.
What is the difference between silpancho and trancapecho?
Trancapecho is silpancho in sandwich form: the steak, rice, potato, egg and salad are placed inside bread.
Who created the silpancho?
Press sources attribute the creation to Celia La Fuente Peredo, at her restaurant in Cochabamba.
Flavors of Bolivia
Discover other flavors of Bolivia
Dish · La Paz
Fricasé
Thick soup from La Paz with pieces of pork cooked in a yellow ají broth, served with mote of white corn and chuño. It is part of the traditional cuisine declared a municipal heritage.
Dish · Oruro
Charquekan
Oruro dish of shredded llama charque fried until crispy, served with mote (corn), potato, hard‑boiled egg, cheese and llajwa. It is a traditional specialty of the city of Oruro.
Dish · Potosí
K'alapurka
Thick soup made from white cornmeal with meat, potato and red ají, served in a clay bowl with a very hot volcanic stone inside that makes the broth boil at the table. It is a national heritage dish as representative cuisine of Potosí.
Dish · Potosí
Salteña
Baked empanada with a slightly sweet dough and a juicy filling of meat, potato, ají and broth, eaten mid-morning throughout Bolivia. Law 485 declared the salteña potosina a national heritage; its origin is disputed.
Dish · Santa Cruz
Majadito
Cooked rice with shredded charque or other meats, served with a fried egg and fried cooking banana. It is the most consumed dish of cruceña cuisine from the Bolivian Lowlands (Oriente).
Dish · Sucre
Mondongo chuquisaqueño
Pork stew in a red ají sauce, served with mote of white corn and potato. It is listed among Sucre’s emblematic dishes and has its own fairs in the city.
Dish · Tarija
Saice tarijeño
Spicy stew of ground beef with diced potato, peas and red ají, served with rice and a fresh salad. It is Tarija’s signature dish and the most representative of Tarija cuisine, according to the municipality.
Drink · Tarija
Singani
Brandy (aguardiente) from Moscatel de Alexandria grapes with Bolivian denomination of origin, produced in high-altitude valleys. The Tarija valleys are the primary production zone of the denomination and the center of the Wine and Singani Route.