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🇧🇴 Bolivia /Culture & Society

‘A lo camba’: Marilyn’s signature flavor wins over Montero

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Marcela “Marilyn” Ticona Cejas has served camba-style picante in Guabirá, Montero, for more than 30 years.
  • Her menu includes chicken, cow tongue and mixed versions, served with noodles or chuño.
  • Chef Javier Libera says Santa Cruz has adapted the dish with local ingredients and cooking methods.

Friday nights in Guabirá belong to picante, and one name comes up more than any other: Marilyn.

Marcela Ticona Cejas, known throughout the Montero district by her nickname, has prepared the dish for more than 30 years. Her restaurant serves chicken picante, cow-tongue picante and mixed plates, with noodles or simply chuño. More than a dozen places offer the dish in the area, but locals point diners toward Marilyn’s cooking.

Because we are not difficult people. Our food is not difficult to prepare. We are as simple and as interesting as our food.

· Javier LiberaThe chef’s description of Santa Cruz’s culinary identity.

The dish did not originate in Santa Cruz, chef Javier Libera acknowledges. But Santa Cruz adopted it and gave it a local identity. The camba version uses prized native chicken and beef tongue, reflecting the flavors of the region’s cuisine.

Libera describes Santa Cruz cooking as the region’s identity expressed through taste. He says local food is simple to prepare but distinctive, and that a buffet of eastern Bolivian dishes is now hard to imagine without picante. The local preparation differs from versions served in La Paz, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. In the countryside, he says, diners traditionally eat chicken from a hen rather than broiler chicken, with the chili prepared in the hen’s broth.

Each one has its characteristics and its different ways of preparing it. For example, if you go to the countryside, you will never eat chicken picante, you will always eat hen picante, which is much tastier.

· Javier LiberaLibera’s explanation of how the Santa Cruz version differs from other regional preparations.

Marilyn learned the recipe through her family. Her father moved from La Paz to the integrated northern region of Santa Cruz to work at a sugar mill, where he met a woman from Montero. A paternal relative later shared the original recipe during a visit to Guabirá, and Marilyn’s mother learned it along with other dishes from La Paz.

“I was very young. I helped as much as I could. But as time passed, I paid closer attention. That is how I learned,” Marilyn recalls. Speaking about her mother still moves her deeply.

I was very young. I helped as much as I could. But as time passed, I paid closer attention. That is how I learned.

· Marcela “Marilyn” Ticona CejasShe recalled learning the recipe from her mother.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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