This Easter, Pagina Siete had the great idea to describe Bolivian food of this important event in Catholic lives:
THE CATHOLIC MENU PROHIBITS RED MEAT CONSUMPTION
Seven traditional dishes for Easter
The Easter menu has peculiarities in each region. Although tradition dictates that there should be 12, seven dishes are prepared on Good Friday.
Although tradition dictates that there are 12, currently there are seven dishes that are cooked on Friday. “Yes, it is only required for Catholics that they do not have red meat,” says the director of the School of Gastronomy Bolivia Gourmet, Chef Oscar Mora.
To live Easter, the principal feast of the Christians, the Catholic Church established prohibitions on what was good and bad for the body, identifying the food to be consumed to achieve holiness and away the sin of gluttony.
“That tradition has special culinary nuances in each region adds the chef Mora. In the west [highlands] is used more milk, cheese and fish.” He says that in his childhood, in the Potosi mines, there were 12 dishes that were consumed on Good Friday. “Sometimes was made jointly among neighbors.”
The party of the feast
“Before, every family prepared 12 dishes in remembrance of the 12 apostles who shared the Last Supper of Jesus, but now no longer can”.. The high costs and lack of time to develop them are the cause “Times have changed” said Mora.
The Western tradition in La Paz has also been a process of mestizo culture. “In the temple of San Sebastián was a party of the Holy Sepulchre, who offered the 12 dishes to guests topped with a variety of sweet pastries such as suche, cookies, fruit and accompanied with wine, soda, as moqochinchi, applesauce and other” said Gabriel Fernández, municipal director of Cultures.
This tradition of Party [preste] still remains in some paceños spaces, according to the mayor: “Participating in this table was a veritable feast that left satiated hunger to fall into gluttony”.
The extensive menu
The gastronomy chef, Mora, explains that Easter has peculiarities in each region. Among the dishes prepared in the south for this date include peppers vegetables; not lacking in the highlands quinoa, cheese and lake fish; while in the East [lowlands] they consume river products like fish, but also as peanut grains and tubers such as cassava.
According to connoisseurs, diners can choose today between: Smooth pepper potato pumpkin locro, seaweed (algae of Lake Titicaca), quesohumacha, pea chili, fries huancaína, ispi with mote and potato flour, shrimp soup, trout served with fried rice, fried kingfish cooked with chili, wallaque (fish soup), stewed fruit (peach) and others.
The Mora chef recommends not to forget the rice pudding, characteristic of these days. “The taste reminds me of Easter from my childhood,” he says. He also recommends the characteristic desserts like donuts with anise, biscuit or sweet breads, buns and dried fruits.
These days are presented in the temple La Merced courtyard, a Candy Fair with sweet pastries of Todos Santos.
Milk pudding
Ingredients: One liter of whole milk, sugar to taste, 1/2 cup rice, cinnamon branches and powder and lemon peel.
Preparation: Heat the milk simmered with cinnamon, lemon peel and sugar. Bring to a boil, add the washed rice. Simmer for an hour. Serve with cinnamon.
Spicy cod
Ingredients: ½ pound cod, 1 onion, ½ cup aji [bolivian powdered chili], salt to taste, 2 tablespoons sugar, ½ cup red aji, 1 sprig of mint, broth and oil.
Preparation: Soak the cod in plenty of water and prepared in little pieces. Cook the onion and garlic in oil, add chili, cod and peppermint.
Pumpkin locro
Ingredients: One pound of pumpkin, four spoons of ground yellow aji, an onion, a clove of garlic, 1/4 cheese, 1 sliced corn, potato squares.
Preparation: In a saucepan cook the squash until it dissolves. Chop the onion and cook with oil, aji, salt and garlic. Mix both preparations, corn and potatoes. Simmer and serve.
Quesohumacha
Ingredients: 4 corn, 1/2 cup aji, cheese, and garlic salt to taste oil, 1/2 cup beans, 2 branches huacataya, a large onion, 4 boiled potatoes and milk.
Preparation: Chop the onion and oil fry with garlic and aji. Add milk, cooked beans and chopped huacataya. Add cheese cubes. Serve over potatoes and corn
Fish quinoa
Ingredients: 1/2 pound of quinoa, salt and aji, half a liter of milk, 1/4 grated cheese, onion, four spoons yellow aji and oil.
Preparation: soak quinoa for an hour, then cook it without salt for 25 minutes. Add milk and salt. In another saucepan cook the onion with aji. Collect all and serve with cheese.
Trout “Kraby”
Ingredients. 2 trout, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 4 stalks celery, 5 little red cherries, soy sauce, salt, 100 grams of noodles, 50 grams of mushrooms, 3 stalks scallions, 25 grams of Chinese green beans.
Preparation: Fry the fish, add the chopped vegetables and soy sauce, cook for a minute. Serve with noodles and cooked with mushrooms.
Bolivian Thoughts 