Salteña
Bolivian baked empanada with sweet pastry and juicy stew filling.
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A salteña is a Bolivian baked hand pie filled with a savory stew that becomes liquid when heated.[1][2] The pastry is hard and sweet, unlike other empanadas, and the filling uses gelatin to keep the crust from getting soggy.[1][2] Salteñas are often eaten as a morning meal in Bolivia and are sold at specialized shops called salteñerías.[2]
Key facts and history
According to a Tasting Table article, Señorita Juana Manuela Gorriti is credited with inventing the salteña.[2] She fled into exile during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas and settled in the Bolivian city of Potosí.[3][2] The name "salteña" comes from her origins in Salta, Argentina.[2] The fillings typically include beef, pork, or chicken mixed with a sweet, slightly spicy sauce containing ají, potatoes, and sometimes egg.[1]
The gelatin in the filling is solid when prepared but melts during baking, turning the stew back into a liquid.[1][2] In Brazil, the pastry is called a saltenha and is popular in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre.[4] The first saltenharia in Corumbá, Brazil, was opened in 1978 by the Ardaya family of Bolivian descent.[4] Saltenhas have been sold in Rio Branco, Acre, since at least 1979 when Cantinho Lanche do Pastor opened.[4]
What the cited sources add
A Tasting Table article notes that salteñas are oven-baked and have a buttery dough pinched on one side like an empanada or calzone.[2] The same source states that salteñas are usually stuffed with beef or chicken, potatoes, onions, peppers, spices, peas, olives, and gelatin.[2] The UOL article also mentions that one of the best saltenhas in the capital is eaten at a particular establishment.[5] The Tasting Table article explains that the oven temperature is as important as the recipe for making successful salteñas.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Salteña" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salteñas: The Savory Bolivian Hand Pies You Should Know About", Tasting Table, August 18, 2022 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Salteñas: The Savory Bolivian Hand Pies You Should Know About", Tasting Table, August 18, 2022. facts only, no text reused. tastingtable.com
- Wikipedia, "Salteña" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Biography of Dr. and General José Ignacio de Gorriti, hero of Argentine independence by Carlos Jesús Maita, published in Blogger. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Salteña" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Saltenha o café da manhã boliviano: apreda a fazer esse salgado mais famoso da Bolívia", Bonito Informa, 7 March 2018; "Saltenha: tradição familiar que dura quase três décadas", Município de Corumbá, 16 November 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- De Nossa, "Culinária do Acre esbanja identidade e orgulho em cada prato; conheça", www.uol.com.br, 14 June 2021. facts only, no text reused. uol.com.br
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Salteña (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Bolivian cuisine
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Salteña (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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