Back when I was still applying for the Peace Corps, one of the biggest fears that I often found floating around my head was that I was going to be stuck eating food that was so unappetizing that I would end up losing half my body weight by the time I came back to the states. I have been pleasantly surprised by the cuisine here, though your options don’t come anywhere near the cornucopia of options that Americans are used to finding. A great deal of adaptation is also necessary. Whenever I ate meat, it usually meant poultry, and I had actually all but given up red meat about a year before getting here. It took me a couple of weeks for my stomach to accept the fact that I would be giving it plenty of cow and pig products, and while it resisted my new diet at first, we now have a much stronger relationship.
Sharing Meals
One day at lunch during training, I mentioned how great it was that everyone here sits down with their whole family everyday to eat together. They didn’t understand this appreciation until I explained to them that when I was still working in San Diego I just brought a sandwich and a piece of fruit, which I ate in my office. They thought that was both strange and sad, but I explained that I really only had about half an hour to eat, and would never have been able to drop what I was doing and go home for a two-hour lunch.
Generally, Paraguayans eat a single, giant meal each day, which is shared with family. Breakfast is just coffee or Maté, and dinner is something simple like a sandwich, an empanada, or whatever is leftover from lunch. But the giant lunch is where all of their cooking efforts go each day.
Common Dishes
Any discussion about common Paraguayan food has to start with Mandioca. I had never seen, or even heard of, this odd-looking vegetable, but now I don’t go a single meal without seeing it on the table. Its shape resembles a squash, and its taste vaguely echoes the flavor or a potato that has been boiled to a point of tastelessness. It grows in the ground like a potato, and has a tough skin like a potato, (though it is peeled off and rarely eaten). It usually gets boiled, and is served as a side with lunch and dinner the way Americans would serve bread. It is such a bland taste that I have not met any other volunteer that has a strong opinion one way or the other about it, but Paraguayans absolutely love the stuff.
Chipa is a yellowish bread-like treat that is often sold on the street. It comes in several shapes, but the most common is that of a doughnut. Originally, it was invented as a way to use up extra ingredients that people had laying around their kitchen before they went bad. The recipe is quite simple: mix up eggs, milk, corn flour, Yuca starch, cheese, butter or lard, salt and anise seeds, and bake. Despite being such a simple recipe, there is a great deal of diversity in the quality of the Chipa you will find here. The best Chipa is fresh from the oven, but after it gets more than a day or two old it turns into a rock. Chipa is commonly prepared by families during Semana Santa, (the week before Easter), since it fulfills that ever-so-painful no-meat rule prior to Easter.
Contrary to its name, Sopa Paraguaya is not actually a soup but a bread that closely resembles American corn bread. Like Chipa, it is cooked in a tatakua, (Guarani word meaning “fire hole,” which is a large, outdoor clay oven). Its ingredients are simple and include milk, flour, pork fat, eggs, cheese, and sliced onions. It is served as one of the few non-meat items at traditional asados.
Mbeju is a starchy cake made of corn flour, milk, cheese, pork fat and starch, (see a pattern emerging?). Its cooked in a small pan outside with coal, and requires less than five minutes. Mbeju, along with Sopa Paraguaya and Chipa, is a common snack with coffee or Maté Cocido. Maté Cocido is a hot beverage which uses boiled yerba mate, and is served here in Paraguay with milk and sugar.
Vori Vori is a common soup made with little balls made of corn flour and cheese. If you are looking to try out a Paraguayan recipe, I recommend you start with Vori Vori. It is a simple recipe which requires only the corn flour, cheese, garlic, onion, and rice. Pumpkin can be added if you can find a fresh one, (it makes for a great addition). Since this is Paraguay, either chicken or beef is generally added as well.
Milanesa is a piece of fried meat, often served in a sandwich. Enough said.
There are lots of other common dishes here, but you can see the pattern of ingredients. Rice and beans are often served as sides, along with somewhat bland salads consisting of lettuce and tomatoes without salad dressing. A lime is as common as salt and pepper shakers on tables, and used on just about everything. You can find hot sauce, but in general, Paraguayans have no taste for anything hotter than a mild pepper.
With regard to drinks, there is not really anything special here. For as common as Tereré and Maté are, you never serve them with a meal. Paraguayans are very fond of sodas, Coke in particular, and are about as fancy as you get with a meal. I rarely see anyone drinking wine here, and when they do, its just boxed wine mixed with Coke. Some volunteers have told me stories about trips to Chile and Argentina, where they brought nice wines for their host families, only to watch in disappointment as they crack open the bottles and mix in a hefty dose of Coke. After the meal, those with an affinity for a stronger drink will often turn to caña, which is a liquor made from sugar cane.
Final Notes
There are notable habits that you immediately notice the first time you sit down to share a meal here in Paraguay. The most surprising to me at my first meal was the absence of napkins. You use the tablecloth, that’s what its for! This is very common, and not considered rude at all in most households. I’m going to have to try very hard to break this habit when I get back to the states, because something tells me this is not something that people will appreciate, even under the pretext of “cultural exchange.”
It is very easy to find recipes to just about everything I have mentioned. I would definitely recommend the Vori Vori if you want to try something. Another favorite of mine here is a soup called Locro, which I didn’t go into since it isn’t unique to Paraguay, (although very popular as well).
Read more about Paraguayan culture in the “Culture Bag” series.
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