# Bolivian food words: salteña, api, marraqueta

> id: regional.bo.lexicon-food · category: regional · depth: standard · levels: A2 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Salteña (juicy morning empanada), marraqueta (highland bread), api con pastel, silpancho, pique a lo macho, chairo, singani (national spirit), el almuerzo (set lunch).

Food is regional identity: salteña (a juicy baked empanada eaten mid-morning), marraqueta (crusty highland bread), api con pastel (purple-corn drink with fried pastry), silpancho and pique a lo macho (valley dishes), chairo and fricasé (highland soups), and singani (Bolivia's national grape spirit).

Mealtime vocabulary matters: almuerzo is the big midday meal and 'el almuerzo' also names the cheap set lunch. Knowing salteña vs empanada and api vs café orients you in any Bolivian morning.

Street and regional specialties are worth knowing by name: tucumana (a fried street empanada) served with llajwa (the ubiquitous chili salsa), cuñapé and zonzo (cassava-cheese snacks of the east), majadito and sajta in the lowlands and valleys, and chicha (fermented-corn drink). The evening light meal is el té, distinct from the midday almuerzo.

## Examples
- Una salteña de pollo y un api, por favor. — A chicken salteña and an api, please.
- El almuerzo viene con sopa y segundo. — The set lunch comes with soup and a main course.
- De la calle, una tucumana con llajwa. — From the street, a tucumana with llajwa (chili salsa). *(llajwa = Bolivian chili salsa.)*

Related: regional.bo.lexicon-everyday, regional.bo.money-prices-talk

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