Day 86 - Cooking and Carnival
February 9 - Sucre, Bolivia
We made a delicious breakfast and headed out to adventure. The nearby market was decked in fresh fruits and veggies, and we chose a few for the day, including maracuya - passionfruit.
We strolled through the plazas and stopped at a chocolate shop, Para Ti, to try the local chocolate from the Bolivian cacao farms. I approve!
I did a work out in the courtyard of our apartment. Then we headed to our spanish school for a cooking class and Carnival celebration.
There are many rituals for Carnival in Bolivia, all of which involve sending good graces to Pachamama, the indigenous goddess who provides for the harvest, loosely "mother Earth". There is a special candle to light, and you provide an offering, sprinkle "leche de tigre" in the four corners, and make a wish. The white balls on the right are sweets that are enjoyed during Carnival- mostly sugar and some coconut. They were WAY too sweet.
Below is another ritual, "feeding Pachamama" by feeding the fire. There were also a lot of firecrackers...not sure the significance. On the right is Evan giving his offering and making a wish.
After playing some local games, including some with water balloons, I was soaked and hungry. The meal we had cooked was ready as well. I wouldn't call it a cooking class so much as a prep-ing class. We made a traditional spicy chicken dish, with rice, potatoes, onion and cilantro. The side was "papas secas" or dried potatoes, with a peanut sauce (not like a thai peanut sauce, less peanut and more creamy). I think the papas secas are harvested, boiled, then sundried. Then they sort of ferment. I prepared these for the meal, which involved removing remnants of the skin, and tearing into smaller pieces. They were moist and smelled a bit of vinegar. They were not my thing...
Everything else was delicious!
We made a delicious breakfast and headed out to adventure. The nearby market was decked in fresh fruits and veggies, and we chose a few for the day, including maracuya - passionfruit.
We strolled through the plazas and stopped at a chocolate shop, Para Ti, to try the local chocolate from the Bolivian cacao farms. I approve!
And stopped for Venezuelan food...Arepas. Because if you can't be in Venezuela you might as well eat their food. Delicious! And ran into a pair that we had met in the salt flats - because the world truly is small (or at least the Bolivian tourist circuit).
It was Bolivia's "Carnival" in preparation for lent, and the celebrations were already underway. They sell "spuma" on the streets, which is a foam spray similar to silly string. Evan got sprayed in the face by a mom, who's daughter was too chicken to spray him.
There are many rituals for Carnival in Bolivia, all of which involve sending good graces to Pachamama, the indigenous goddess who provides for the harvest, loosely "mother Earth". There is a special candle to light, and you provide an offering, sprinkle "leche de tigre" in the four corners, and make a wish. The white balls on the right are sweets that are enjoyed during Carnival- mostly sugar and some coconut. They were WAY too sweet.
Below is another ritual, "feeding Pachamama" by feeding the fire. There were also a lot of firecrackers...not sure the significance. On the right is Evan giving his offering and making a wish.
Another ritual is related to the frogs below. The frogs have serpents on their backs and are good luck. Apparently, you start a cigarette for them and they smoke it for the night. If it burns over half way, your wishes come true and the harvest will be plentiful. It must be like the Bolivian groundhog.
After playing some local games, including some with water balloons, I was soaked and hungry. The meal we had cooked was ready as well. I wouldn't call it a cooking class so much as a prep-ing class. We made a traditional spicy chicken dish, with rice, potatoes, onion and cilantro. The side was "papas secas" or dried potatoes, with a peanut sauce (not like a thai peanut sauce, less peanut and more creamy). I think the papas secas are harvested, boiled, then sundried. Then they sort of ferment. I prepared these for the meal, which involved removing remnants of the skin, and tearing into smaller pieces. They were moist and smelled a bit of vinegar. They were not my thing...
Everything else was delicious!
Comments
Post a Comment