Morning Snack · Baked Broth Empanada

Salteña

Photo: EEJCC / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The filling is deliberately thickened with gelatin so it turns from solid to liquid in the oven, creating the dish's famously juicy, soupy interior.

A salteña is a baked empanada with a slightly sweet, golden crust encasing a juicy stew of beef or chicken, potatoes, peas, olives, and often a piece of hard-boiled or quail egg, all bound in a rich broth called jigote. Vendors sell them hot from baskets on street corners every morning.

Why it's made this way: Its origin is disputed; the best-known story credits Juana Manuela Gorriti, an Argentine writer from Salta exiled in Bolivia in the 19th century, whose empanadas came to be called salteñas after her home province. It became Bolivia's favorite grab-and-go breakfast.