Photo from the Washington Post
While scoping out a joint for the Post’s Good to Go feature, I was lucky enough to get a hands on Saletna lesson from a true pro. I was curious how you got a liquid stew to chill out inside a pastry while they were rolled and sealed. When I asked the chef, he invited me behind the pass to try it myself.
In a tiny stainless steel-framed kitchen, Raúl Claros works an achiote-dyed pastry on a seasoned maple bench. A step away, his mother Haydée peels the boiled eggs that will join roast chicken, olives, and a gelatin-set beef stew. The gelatin allows the stew to be portioned out using an ice cream scoop. Raul shows me how to twist the dough in a series of overlapping creases, forming a braided rope that seals the ingredients inside a saltena ordered minutes earlier.
Raul and I discussed his history while I tackled my second Saltena. Born in Caracas and raised in Bolivia with a father who was schooled in Chile, Raul uses his Latin American menu to tell his family history. “This is our creole food, our comfort food,” he says, delicately brushing a thin egg wash over the pastries. As he slides the sheet pan into the oven his mother describes pictures she has of a younger chef, only five, rolling small rounds of the same pale yellow pastry back in Bolivia. Twenty-three years later little as changed. “I can’t believe I’m still doing this” says Raul, “Saltenas are chasing me.”
It’s an exercise Raul and his small staff repeat hundreds of times a week, each turnover carefully crafted only after a request filters in from the dining room. Nearly all of the dishes that leave the kitchen of La Caraqueña are cooked this way.
The unlikely storefront adjoining a Motor Lodge Hotel in downtown Falls Church seems less than ideal but upon entering you’re immediately set to ease. The intimate space is cloaked in lively yellow and teal while photographs of South American scenery overlook matching booths. A soundtrack loops through a lively Latin beat complete with raver hoots and train whistles, and then you’re hit by the aromas of stewed beef and chilis.
If you go check out the Arepes ($2.49-8.49) puffed in the oven like corn cake pitas, grilled, split, and stuffed with delicious and addictive fillings. Carne Mechada invokes tender strands of beef braised in tomatoes and chilies while JP’s favorite touts grilled steak with tomatoes and onions. Beans with cheese, chicken with avocado, ham and many other combination make you wish they weren’t so filling. Consider splitting one with a friend if you hope to explore La Caraqueña’s other offerings.
This place also turns out the best Yucca Frita ($4.99) I’ve had in a while. Paired with salsa amarilla and a fresh salsa of tomato onion and jalapeno.
La Caraqueña Latin American Cuisine
300 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046
www.lacaraquena.com
Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 12pm-10pm; Saturdays, 11am-10 pm; Sundays, 11am-9pm; Closed Tuesdays
