Travels through South America

Living and working in Sucre for so long meant that we were able to get into a routine easily as far as breakfast and lunch were concerned. From the first morning onwards we were pretty much faithful to the Mercado Central where we befriended various stallholders and quickly established a couple of breakfast patterns.

Breakfasts

The first stall we discovered was a fruit juice stall manned by a lovely lady keen to encourage us to try every juice on her list. At first I was reticent for the juices in Bolivia are mixed with milk and I`ve never been one for mixing fruit with milk. My first sip of tumbo (like passionfruit) with milk proved me wrong and from then I tried nearly every juice over the course of the month, repeating favourites such as coconut, papaya, passionfruit and, of all things, alfalfa and lime! The same stall also offers the most amazing fruit salads with yogurt, cereal (like sugar puffs).

Our next discovery was the coffee stall on the third floor that also serves pastel de queso (cheese pastry) which I renamed `pastel de aire con queso`as there is more air than cheese. Still tasty though, the pastels are deep fried in oil until they puff up and are served with caster sugar sprinkled over them.

In the last half of the month we ended up just coming for the coffee (nothing to rave about) for we had actually ventured to try the the extravagantly gaudy looking cakes on the ground floor and discovered that they were heavenly creations of light sponge, softly sweet cream and a moist, thin nutty spread. The ladies on the stall got used to us taking the cake up to eat with the coffee and were soon lending us plates and increasing the portion size.

The other stall I have to mention is one of the tojori stalls, manned by a Bolivian diva with a smooth line in banter and a knowing twinkle in her eye. This was the first time I’d come across a Bolivian from the lowland region (Santa Cruz) and the difference in character from the altiplano women was marked. She was warmer, more jovial and less reserved and it was a pleasure to sit at her stall and drink the addictive tojori, even if I could barely manage it after the huge slices of cake. Tojori is a warm drink made of maize, sugar and cinnamon. It is made by cooking the maize in water all night and adding the sugar and cinnamon. It’s thick, not too sweet and contains pieces of soft maize. After leaving Sucre, we tried some in La Paz and it was totally different and not very nice at all… I miss my Sucre Tojori!

Another popular drink in the markets and streets is api. It`s a sweet drink made with purple corn, lemon, sugar, cinnamon and sugar. Neither of us liked it very much but it`s a drink to try if you are in Bolivia. On each of these cafe or tojori and api stalls you will find buñuelos, which resemble mishapen doughnuts served sweet, both plain and scented with anise.

Lunches

The first few days in Sucre we ate our lunches in the market too. Then I was stricken with a stomach bug and spent the next six days barely eating anything. That put an end to our market lunches. This also coincided with our volunteering work up at Hogar Sucre, far up the hill from the market. The closest place to eat lunch was also the most beautiful – Cafe Mirador in Recoleta.

Blessed with beautiful views, the cafe has a lovely garden with tables and deckchairs perfect for whiling away a couple of hours. They serve delicious blended juices (all fruit), humongous omelettes, generous salads and much, much more. It’s perfect for a leisurely lunch but not so good when you are rushing to get back to the orphanage. We tried many techniques to speed lunchtimes up but the staff would not be rushed nor comply to accepting pre-orders. If you have time though, you must, must visit.

Dinner and Drinks

After reading Lonely Planet, you would be forgiven for thinking that the only restaurants in Sucre were along one street off the plaza plus a vegetarian in the other direction. For the sake of completeness, I`ll give a quick rating of some of these eateries before mentioning my absolute most favourite place in Sucre…
Joyride – unavoidable gringo haunt crammed to the rafters with beer-swilling backpackers looking for a Western vibe. Great hot chocolate, terrible coffee and so-so food, it isn`t actually that bad.

Bibliocafe 1 and 2 – overrated gringo bars offering the same menu in each but one bar has live music and the other is cosier. The food is below par but slightly redeemed by its Submarino (chocolate bar added to hot milk). I must applaud them though for hosting a benefit for the orphanage which helped both raise the profile of the Hogar and money for new games too.

La Vieja Bodega – Probably the best proper restaurant offering some traditional Bolivian fare, pasta dishes, very good salads and a great fondue. The atmosphere is classy and comfortable.

Monte Bianco – tiny Italian restaurant run by a very Italian Italian! Its deep red walls are strewn with minature reproduction of classic paintings by the likes of Velazques, Van Eick, Latrek, Monet, Degas and good old Italian rock and ska-punk competes with the occasional salsa music from the bar opposite the courtyard. A limited menu covers 5 pasta dishes, 4 pizzas (all that can be cooked in the oven), a couple of salads and a very tasty tiramisu. The one bottle of wine offered is perfectly drinkable and at 30Bs a bottle is half the price of other Sucre restaurants. Definitely worth a visit.

GRAND PRIZE – Crisalida.

If I ran a bar/cafe than I would want it to be like Crisalida. Arty, relaxed, good music, cheap prices, lovely staff, live acoustic music, film screenings, tasty food (try Naira’s menudito)… I cannot recommend it enough. Vanessa and Naira are fantastic owners and if anyone reading ever happens to pop in, give them our love!