Paraguayan cuisine

Paraguayan cuisine is the way people in Paraguay cook and enjoy their food. It mixes ideas from the Guaraní people, Spanish cuisine, and foods brought by people from nearby countries like those who cooked Italian cuisine and German cuisine. The city of Asunción is where this special food style started and spread throughout the country.

In Paraguayan society, different groups such as mestizos, creoles, and cario-guaraní people shared their cooking knowledge even before the Jesuit missions arrived. This mixing of traditions makes Paraguayan food unique and interesting, showing the history and culture of the people who live there.

History

Pre-Columbian period

Paraguayan food has deep roots that go back many years ago. In the 1500s, people like Ulrich Schmidl wrote about what the native Guaraní and Carios people ate. They mainly ate wild animals and cornbread, but they did not use milk, beef, cheese, or eggs. When the Spanish arrived in 1537 and started the city of Asunción, they brought cattle with them. This mixing of Spanish and native ways of eating helped create what we now call Paraguayan food. One big part of this is the love for asado, or meat cooked over fire, which started because seven cows and a bull arrived in Asunción in 1556.

Vicereine period

Paraguayan food did not just come from the Guaraní people. It is a mix of Spanish food and the food of the Carios and Guaraní. This mixing happened mostly in and around Asunción. Towns like Tobatí, Altos, Areguá, Ypané, Guarambaré, Itá and Yaguarón show how Paraguayan culture grew far from big cities. The Guaraní and Carios cooked with wild animals, fish, and grains, and used tools they made themselves. When the Spanish came, they brought new animals like cows and new foods like milk and cheese. This mixing created new dishes that people still eat today, like foods made from corn, cassava, and cheese.

Republican period

During a later time, Paraguayan food became even more mixed. It grew from the Guaraní way of life and the new ideas brought by the Spanish. Leaders like Carlos Antonio López, Francisco Solano López, and Madame Lynch helped this growth. After big events like the Paraguayan War, many new people came to Paraguay from Europe, especially from Italy and Germany. They brought their own food ways, like pasta and desserts, which are now part of everyday eating in Paraguay. Today, Paraguayan food uses local things like corn and cassava, mixed with European ideas, making it special and unique. In 2017, Paraguay said that some of its most loved foods, like Vori-Vori, Locro, Sopa Paraguaya, and Yopará, are important parts of its culture.

Ingredients

Paraguay has many interesting foods made from local plants and animals. Some of the most common fruits include pineapple, banana, guava, and mango, along with many other special kinds. Vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and carrots are also popular, and people grow beans and other legumes too.

Paraguay has lots of cows, and beef is a big part of the diet. People also drink a lot of milk and eat dairy products like cheese and yogurt. Corn and cassava are important crops used in many dishes, like making special breads and adding flavor to stews.

Fruits, vegetables and legumes

The most consumed and cultivated fruits are pineapple, banana, guava, guavira pytã, guavirami, apepú, yakarati'a, pakuri, ñandypa, ñangapiry, aguaí, aratiku, mburukuja, mamón, mango, melon, watermelon, orange, strawberry, ingá, yvapurû, yvapovõ and tarumá. According to Paraguayan fruit growing, to harvest fruit varieties the following calendar must be considered: fruits such as guava are harvested from January to March; citrus fruits, from March to October; grapes, pineapples, and plums, from December to January; avocado, from April to May; watermelon and melon, from September to April; while bananas are harvested all year round except for very cold times.

Among the vegetables, leaves such as chard, lettuce, green onion, spinach, bok choy, cabbage, chicory and parsley stand out. Among the flowers are broccoli, cauliflower, and artichoke. In the subgroup of fruits there are pumpkin, melon, tomato, locote, and eggplant. The most consumed and grown roots are carrots, turnips, radishes, ginger, beets, and sweet potatoes; while bulbs such as garlic and onion are part of the base ingredient in many Paraguayan dishes. The use of soy and moringa is also present in Paraguayan cuisine, with an export of approximately 15,000 kilos of the latter added to the production of pills. Although the consumption of moringa does not go beyond an infusion in mate and tereré, several culinary things associated with moringa are the use of leaves in order to make bread, cakes, soups, or tortillas. Moringa leaves also serve to introduce proteins, vegetable oils, and fibers to the food.

In Paraguay, certain species of legumes are grown such as peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans, especially the variety kumandá pytâ, San Francisco, señorita bean and kumandá yvyra'i.

Paraguay is the third largest producer of yerba mate in the world, after Argentina and Brazil. Something that is not exempt when it comes to natural inputs is the massive demand for medicinal plants used for mate and tereré, which are also known as "pohâ ñanâ "and were incorporated into Paraguayan society. One fact regarding the sustainable use of the species developed in the country is that there are actually some proposals in order to protect and patent the use of these plants and the resources of traditional medicine through international treaties, precisely to protect this tradition and prevent companies exploit biodiversity by manufacturing products without the authorization of the natives. Every August 1, the "National Poha Ñana Day" is celebrated.

Meats and dairy

Paraguay has the second cattle herd per capita in the world, with 2.16 heads per inhabitant, after Uruguay (3.45 heads per inhabitant). Paraguay has the seventh most populated cattle herd in America, after Brazil, United States, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. The introduction of beef in Paraguay dates back to the times of the Spanish conquest in 1537. Spaniards discovered that the native wildlife that lived in these lands was the guasú, yaguareté, and capybara. Thus, in 1556, the brothers Escipión and Vicente Goes introduced seven cows and a bull into Paraguay, which were brought from the Brazilian coast of São Vicente, which in turn were originally from Alentejo and Extremadura. These black Avilenas were characterized by their great rusticity and high fertility and constituted a tiny herd that began the domestication of animals in the country. During the Spanish expeditions, in 1609 the Jesuits arrived to found the first mission of all the Guaraní missions: San Ignacio Guazú, where they continued cattle breeding. That's the reason why is said that Paraguayans, since their origins, are more ranchers than farmers. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1768, 801,258 heads of cattle were counted.

The "Livestock Society of Paraguay" was founded in 1885, an entity that would support and collaborate with the development of the meat industry in the country. It would later change its name to "Rural Association of Paraguay" in 1938. By 1895, the country's cattle population reached 2,283,093 heads.

In 1901, the first Hereford producers arrived, introduced by Carlos Pfannl in Puerto Fonciere. In 1918, the first Aberdeen Angus breeders arrived, and in 1930, the Paraguayan meat processing industry was already consolidating. The national livestock herd reached 3.7 million heads in 1940 and in 2012 it exceeded 13 million heads. According to the 2022 Livestock Census, Paraguay has 13.24 million heads of cow cattle, equivalent to 2.16 animals per inhabitant. The same census registered pig livestock in 1.8 million heads; horse livestock 255,439 heads; sheep livestock 476,955 heads; and 32 million heads of birds (rooster, chicken, and offspring).

Paraguay is the third largest consumer of beef in the world, with 28 kilos per capita per year, being surpassed only by Uruguay (41 kilos) and Argentina (44 kilos). Among beef consumption habits, the one preferred by Paraguayans is vacuum packed, being weekend barbecues very popular. The consumption of poultry is 20 kilos on average, while pork ranges around 5 kilos per inhabitant.

Milk production in Paraguay generates around 1,850,000 liters per day and its consumption reaches 180 liters per capita per year. Among the dairy products sold are yogurts, dairy drinks, cheeses, butters, milk cream, dulce de leche, milk powder, etc., being Lactolanda and Trébol as the leaders of the Paraguayan dairy industry. Behind them is the Association of Milk Producers (Aprole) which brings together another 80 producers, many of them cooperatives. Milk constitutes the main diet of Paraguayans at breakfast, so much so that it reaches educational institutions in school snack programs. About 50% of dairy production is located in Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, while the remaining productive areas are distributed in central Chaco, Colonias Unidas and San Pedro. Mennonites stand out in this development, mostly settled in the Chaco area and the north of the eastern region, and among them, a community from Curuguaty stands out, who have plants that produce 80,000 liters of milk per day. They are also dedicated to alternating crops of soybeans, corn, and oats.

Paraguay cheese

The traditional Queso Paraguay is a white adulterated one, obtained from whole, unpasteurized cow's milk. According to experts from the Paraguayan Chamber of Dairy Industries, it cannot be exposed to room temperature for more than 1 or 2 hours. Among the main characteristics is its respectable firmness, white in color, which releases a liquid when cut, due to the whey contained in it, especially when it is fresh. When it is set or hard it has a yellowish color, dry, swollen, with many eyes or holes. There are key factors that characterize Paraguay cheese so that it obtains the distinctive flavor, body, and consistency compared to other cheeses: the type of milk used; the method of curdling the milk and of cutting, boiling, and pressing the cuajada; the type of bacteria or fungus used for aging; the amount of salt and seasonings added; and the thermal conditions in the aging and curing process.

Queso Paraguay stands out the most among the fresh cheeses marketed in Paraguay, due to its high biological value in terms of protein content and easily assimilated calcium, in addition to phosphorus, magnesium, group B vitamins (especially riboflavin, B12 and niacin) and fat-soluble vitamins A and D.

Corn and sweet corn

It is well known that Mesoamerica is the center-origin of grains such as corn and sweet corn, a territory where their cultivation and consumption were domesticated until it spread throughout America among the different civilizations developed on this continent. Thus, this vegetable reached civilizations whose territories are Paraguay in modern times, a place where the Cario-Guaraní people managed to use corn as a base crop for their diet, also integrating it into their cosmogony as one of their sacred plants. With the arrival of Europeans to America, cultures were syncretized, and corn became the cultural and spiritual manifestation of current civilization, giving way to the origin of gastronomic diversity in American countries, including Paraguay. Due to the genetic development that corn has had, thanks in part to the climatic adaptation in this area of South America, the most widespread throughout Paraguay is the Avatí Morotĩ or Avatí Chipá, which despite having a yellow hue, acquires a whitish when grinding the grains. To a lesser extent, there are wide varieties scattered throughout the country: the Avatí Guapy, the Avatí Mitã, the Avatí Tĩ, the Pichinga Aristado, the Sapé Pytã, the Tupi Morotĩ and the Tupi Pytã.

Cassava and starch

Present in many countries, the first references would indicate that in Peru they were already cultivated in the 20th century BC. The not erroneous conclusion is that it is of South American origin. Cassava spread throughout Central America and the Mayans had already cultivated it since the 800s AD and today, many African peoples have it in their essential diet. It became so cosmopolitan that Thailand became one of the largest producers and the one that produces the most starch in the world. In the Paraguayan cuisine, cassava starch is mixed with cheese and milk to make baked buns called chipa, the most common snack. Starch is also used to give consistency to meat and vegetable stews such as vorí vorí, mbeju, or caburé; and it is the main ingredient in the preparation of lampreado or payaguá mascada. The truth is that boiled cassava manioc replaces bread on the daily table of Paraguayan dishes.

Culinary dishes

Meat, vegetables, manioc, maize, and fruits are common in Paraguayan cuisine. Barbecuing is a popular cooking method and social event, known as asado. Many dishes use corn, milk, cheese, and meat, and fish from rivers are also eaten. There are about 70 types of chipa (cake) in Paraguay. Most chipas are made from manioc flour, which comes from cassava, and cornmeal.

• Chipa is a bread made with manioc, egg, and cheese.

In Argentina, it is known as chipá and in Bolivia as cuñapé.

• Chipa guasu is a cake made with corn grains and is a common food in Paraguay. It is often served at an asado.
• Chipa so'o is another type of cake.
• A traditional kiveve is made using pumpkin or "andai", water, salt, oil, onion, milk, sugar, corn flour, and fresh cheese.
• Lampreado, also called payaguá mascada, is a fried cake made from manioc flour.
• Mazamorra is a cooked corn mush dish.
• Mbaipy-so-ó is a corn pudding with meat.
• Mbejú is a starch cake and a staple food in Paraguay.
• Milanesa is a breaded meat cutlet, fried, baked, or sautéed.
• Authentic Paraguay cheese
• Parrillada is a dish of meat cooked over hot banana leaves and coals.
• Pira caldo is a fish soup that is part of traditional cuisine.
• Sopa paraguaya is a traditional Paraguayan dish. Meaning "Paraguayan soup," sopa paraguaya is similar to corn bread. Corn flour, pig fat or butter, cheese, and milk or whey are common ingredients. It is a spongy cake rich in calories and protein and is the national dish of Paraguay. Though native to Paraguay, this dish can be found in other Spanish-speaking countries.
• Soyo is a thick soup of meat crushed in a mortar, seasoned with spices and vegetables.
• Vori vori is a thick, yellow soup with little balls made of cornmeal, corn flour, and cheese.

Pastas, sausages and hors d'oeuvres

In Paraguay, noodles, ravioli, gnocchi, pizzas, croquettes, and sausages are widely eaten. Among the sausages, the "besitos" stand out, which are small, spicy grilled chorizos; there are also other varieties like stuffed-cheese chorizo, caazapeño chorizo, missionary chorizo, vienna sausage, and botifarra. It is common to eat stews and noodles with tomato sauce along with green leafy salads and fresh tomatoes. Empanadas and hot dogs are eaten in bread. Milanesa is also eaten, a legacy of Italian immigration, and is a filet of beef or chicken in breadcrumbs, also common in the gastronomy of Argentina and Uruguay. Common snacks include flour lampreado, payaguá mascada, cassava empanada, sandwich de lomo, milanesa sandwich, chicharrón, and more. In addition to the traditional Sunday asado, other dishes commonly eaten are steak roast, pot roast, grilled surubí, cabeza guateada, and grilled dorado.

Cassava empanadas

Homemade empanadas

Croquetas

Chipa so'o

Milanesa de surubí

Puretón

Desserts

• Cake of many different varieties.

• Kosereva is a common "barreled" candy native to Paraguay, made from the hardened skin of the sour orange, cooked in black molasses, resulting in a bittersweet and tangy taste and having a high protein content.

• Mbaipy-he-é is a dessert dish made with milk, molasses, and corn.

• Dulce de leche is used to fill cakes, spread over toasted bread for breakfast, or any other type of bakery goods. It pairs well with kokitos or buttered mosquitos. Often served with bowls of flour.

Alfajores

Koserevá with Paraguay cheese

[Pastafrola](/wiki/Pastafrola) with guava candy

Sweet potato candy

Beverages

Paraguay has many traditional drinks that come from the Guaraní people. One popular drink is tereré, which is a special way of enjoying yerba mate. In 2011, tereré was named the national drink of Paraguay, and the last Saturday of February each year is celebrated as Tereré Day.

People in Paraguay also enjoy fruit juices, soft drinks, and beer. Pilsen is a well-known beer brand. There is also an alcoholic drink called caña, made from sugarcane juice, and a non-alcoholic drink called mosto. Cocido is a hot tea made from yerba mate and sugar, cooked with burning coal, and it is often enjoyed with special bread.

Wine production

Paraguay has soil that is good for growing grapes, especially in the western region. In 2019, high-quality wine production began again. One famous winery is “Bodega Giacometti.” They grow different kinds of grapes and make several types of wine, including red, rosé, white, Merlot, Malbec, Sauvignon, Cabernet, and sparkling wines.