BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — It was a love of baking between mother and daughter that inspired the creation of Sweet Rossy Bolivian Bakery.
“My idea is that my family – my son and daughters – can keep these recipes and don’t lose,” Lesly Sobel told At the Table ATL.
Sobel, who grew up in Sucre, Bolivia, learned Bolivian bakery and its secrets while watching her mother baker for a booth in the city’s outdoor market. Sweet Rosy now offers such favorites among its empanadas, cakes and pastries.
“I always bake with my mom, and she gave me all the recipes,” she said. “These are salteñas, a typical empanada in Bolivia.”
“How does this dish represent Bolivia?”
“Salteñas are so famous … people eat this from breakfast until lunch,” she said. “It has potatoes, peas, onion, parsley, one olive, one raisin, and one piece of boiled egg.”
“How does this dish represent Atlanta?”
“When I participate in farmers market last year, people would be surprised and say, ‘Oh, Bolivia? What is this?’”
Sobel soon learned that Atlanta had a taste for Bolivian flavor.
“My idea was not to bake for other family, just for me and my family. And then I realized that people liked salteñas,” she said. “And it’s something new for many people here.”
The love of baking transformed into way to bridge the gap between her home in Atlanta and her native Bolivia.
“It’s a way to keep my tradition, for people to know more from my country,” she said.
At the Table is a digital series produced by 11Alive's Matt Pearl and Liza Lucas. Metro Atlanta features the food of dozens of nations. We want to eat through them all! Follow us on Facebook and share your favorite food stories.