As I’ve mentioned in my e-mail newsletter, my host Hermana María, is an amazing cook. I’m spoiled every day. Unlike the United States where dinner is the largest and main meal of the day, Bolivians’ main meal of the day is lunch.

Two of my favorite meals so far include silpancho and sopa de maní (peanut soup). I’ve taken a picture of each meal prepared by my host. Here’s a good description of silpancho:

The name of this dish comes from Quechua (Silpanch’u) which means thin, pounded meat. It is a dish typical of the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia (a valley city famous for its cuisine). It consists of beef pounded thin, served with rice, browned potatoes, sarsa (tomato and onion salad), locoto (hot chili) and a fried egg.

Here’s a description of peanut soup (picture below):

a flavorful meat and vegetable stew, thickened and enriched with the earthy flavor of ground peanuts. Sopa de maní is most often made with chicken or beef, but you can use all vegetables for a delicious and nutritious vegetarian meal.