My Three Favorite Bolivian Foods
There are many great foods in Bolivia, and many great foods in the United States. America makes the best hamburgers in the world, though there are a few places here that make a good burger. Tex-Mex food is to die for and I am sorry to say, Bolivia lacks a great Mexican restaurant. But there are some things Bolivia has that you can’t find in the States.
First is sonso. It is a simple dish of pureed yucca with cheese
blended in. Yucca is also called manioc
in English and relatively unfamiliar in the States. Here in the city, I most often find it baked
in an aluminum tin, but in Cotoca, I had it wrapped on a stick and cooked over
a grill. I don’t care which way it is
served; it is so incredible. It makes me
wonder why yucca has not become popular in the States.
Around the corner from my house is Teconté, a small tea restaurant/bakery. They make fabulous sonso, so at least once a week, I buy some.
Here is a recipe from boliviabella.com:
Ingredients
4 pounds of yucca (manioc) peeled, boiled and mashed
2 round white cheeses, crumbled (fresh mozzarella works well)
2 tablespoons of butter or lard, melted
1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk
2 eggs
Salt to taste
Instructions:
Peel the yucca, cut into medium-sized pieces, and boil in water with salt until
they are soft. Remove from water and strain. Mash completely.
Add in the eggs and melted butter or lard and mix well. Add in 1/4 cup of milk
and mix completely. What you want to obtain is a mash of yucca that can be
handled and shaped with your hands - not too dry to crumble and not so wet that
it won't hold its shape. If the mix is too dry, add more milk, one tablespoon
at a time.
Add in the crumbled cheese. Mexican queso cacique works well (you'll have to
grate it) but I found fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in a jar with
water) works better for this recipe. Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon or
simply with your hands to incorporate the cheese completely into the mashed
yucca.
TO BAKE IT
If you plan to make baked sonso, your mashed yucca can be a bit more wet if you
like (however, don't make it runny). Grease a glass baking dish and spread the
mashed yucca into the dish. Try to use a dish that isn't too shallow. You want
your sonso to be rather deep and have the consistency of mashed potatoes. If
it's too shallow, you may end up baking your sonso into a thin crisp. Bake at
350 Fahrenheit or about 180 Celsius uncovered until the cheese forms a nice
toasty golden brown top. Serve hot.
TO GRILL IT
To grill your sonso on a stick, your mashed yucca should not be too wet. You
need it to be pliable and smooth. Scoop some sonso with your hand and shape it
around your stick. You can either grill it directly on the grill, or wrap it in
tin foil initially, then after a few minutes you can take off the tin foil and
grill it until the cheese toasts to a golden brown. Be sure to turn it around
every occasionally, so it bakes on all sides.
My second is fried yucca. One of the reasons I visit La Pascana once a week is to enjoy their fried yucca. I often go there to get only yucca and a soda.
It is simple to make. Cut off the tough outer bark of the yucca, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and deep fry in oil much like you would potatoes. Don’t cook it too long. It should be tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
My friend Anna says her mom made the best
fried yucca in the world. Since she’s no
longer with us, I’ll have to settle for La Pascana’s.
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