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Mandioca - otherwise known as yucca - is the most common food found on tables all over Paraguay. And its not just in the rural areas. Its eaten at nearly every meal, 365 days a year, most Paraguayans would not eat anything without it. Chipa is another very traditional food - shaped like bagels, they are made from mandioca flour (freshly ground), corn meal, Paraguayan cheese, eggs, pig fat/butter, anise. It is traditionally baked in a tatakua (guarani for brick oven) - that is dome shaped and heated using fire, the fire is then removed, the food is placed inside and the two openings are closed. The brick oven retains the heat (extreme heat!) and the food is cooked very quickly. Chipa is traditionally a Semana Santa (Holy Week - Easter) food. But it can also be purchased on any city/country bus by mobile vendors year round for 1.000 mil guaranies (very inexpensive snack). It is best served hot, it becomes hard when cooled. Mandioca is similar to a potato, its a root vegetable, 100% starch. Its filling and best eaten hot. In many countries it is fryed, however, in Paraguay, it is simply peeled then boiled - no seasoning whatsoever, not even salt. Another national food - sopa Paraguaya. Sopa in Spanish is soup, but sopa Paraguaya is a corn bread made from fresh ground corn meal, eggs, pig fat or butter, salt, Paraguayan fresh cheese, onions (optional). It is a bit expensive to make for people in the rural areas, and is often a dish made for special occasions/holidays. Chipa guazu (big chipa) is another popular food, very similar to sopa Paraguaya. The difference is the texture, chipa guazu is "mushier" due to the corn being only slightly milled (to the texture of creamed corn, rather than corn flour used in sopa). It is quite popular during the corn harvest as it really only requires corn, eggs and cheese. Asado, or barbecue, is a very popular meal particularly for Sundays and holidays. Beef ribs are cooked on a "parilla" or grill with only salt and lemon juice as seasoning. Pork is very popular, pigs are raised for 1-2 years in advance of a special occasion (such as a quinceanos - 15th birthday party for a girl - or a religious holiday). Generally it is prepared in a mix of lemon juice, cumin and salt and baked in the tatakua oven. Asado and pork are usually accompanied by a potato or rice salad and mandioca. Meat, chicken and pork are also consumed with rice as "guiso" or stew. The meat is prepared mixed with white rice and onions, green peppers and tomatoes. Sometimes it is quite soupy, sometimes it is prepared thick and no liquid remains. This is also consumed with mandioca. Milanesa is also very popular particularly for special occasions, both meat and chicken. The meat is pounded very thin then coated in flour and bread crumbs then fried. It is similar to country fried chicken but no gravy is used and it is very thin. Empanadas are a popular quick breakfast or snack. They are generally purchased on the go, but sometimes are prepared at home as well. Empanadas are meat, chicken, or ham/cheese fried in a thin flat "tortilla" like dough. A mild hot sauce usually tops them. Cheap red wine is mixed with Coca-Cola for a refreshing beverage. Pilsen is the national beer, though Brahma (Brazilian brand) is even more popular, it is slightly more expensive and considered "finer." The Argentinian brand, Quilmes, is also quite popular as is Bahvarian.
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ReneThe National Dish of Paraguay (and dietary staple) is sopa paraguaya, which is, despite its 'sopa' name, not a soup, but a type of corn bread (pone or johnnycake) with cheese and onions.
Cassava dishes are the primary staple of the rural poor.
Please follow the link below for a recipe for sopa paraguaya. If this recipe differs from yours, please do not complain to this question's author, who in turn makes no claim whatsoever for either authenticity or palatability.
To my knowledge i know that,if there are two ingredients which most effectively portray the food of Paraguay these are without any doubt cassava and corn. These two ingredients are the backbone of most Paraguayan dishes. Cassava is a tuber root, similar to potatoes, also called mandioca or yuca, and can be used in a flour form calledfariña which is then used to make bread, or can be boiled in salt and served as a side dish.
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