Paraguayan cuisine

[1] It is worth clarifying that in the Paraguayan society, the exchange of knowledge between mestizos, creoles and cario-guaraní people occurred before the Jesuit missions.

There are references dating back to 1567 from the German chronicler and military man Ulrich Schmidl, who published in Baviera his experiences in Paraguay and the Río de la Plata, whose testimonies coincide with other chroniclers on the anthropophagic customs of many Native Americans, involving the Guaraní, Carios, Caribes, Mexicas, Araucanos, Incas, etc.

Towns like Tobatí, Altos, Areguá, Ypané, Guarambaré, Itá and Yaguarón are current examples of how the Paraguayan culture was developed far outside and away from the mercantile influence of the Jesuits.

The first records of true Cario-Guaraní Spanish syncretism took place during the age of the foundation of Asunción and its surroundings, where they subsequently founded the Franciscan missions of Altos, Atyrá, Guarambaré, Itá, etc.

This province, then dependent on the Viceroyalty of Peru, covers the regions of Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile (between 1604 and 1617).

For such motives, the Paraguayan culture that characterizes Asunción was firmly conserved itself in the region, and in turn extended toward zones where the cattle were introduced later, like the foundation of Corrientes in 1588, the oldest city in the Argentine Northeast.

[10] In the binnacles (of travelers like the German Ulrich Schmidl) and in the historical registry of the Vicereine age, it appears in various paragraphs that the Carios-Guaranís (a tribe that inhabited the zone of Asunción) prepared cakes and breads based on cassava, corn and sweet corn mixed with animal grease, known as "mbuyapé" (bread in Guaraní).

Thus, the recipes of the typical Paraguayan foods based on ingredients like cassava, corn, cheese, milk, and cattle took their origins in this context.

This cuisine comes from the fusion of the knowledge and elements of the Guarani people with the trades brought by the Spaniards, like the updating of utensils and forms of cooking.

Between 1537 and 1870, European immigration was slow, above all in the independent era due to the late international opening-up during the mandate of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia.

More recently, during the government of Carlos Antonio López, the remaining South American and European countries finally recognized the independence of Paraguay, like the case of France and Argentina.

The European political migration comes into play after the Paraguayan War, a phenomenon that transformed and makes up the current society of Paraguay.

The principal influences that enriched the Paraguayan culinary art came from the Italians and the Germans, overall all that has to do with the consumption of pasta, desserts, drinks, and cold cuts, now rooted in Paraguay.

[15] In 2017 the Ministry of the National Secretary of Culture in Paraguay decided:“To declare as Immaterial Cultural Heritage of Paraguay the production, artisan and traditional elaboration of four typical Paraguayan foods currently validated as the Vori-Vori, the Locro, the Sopa Paraguaya, and the Yopará (a mix of beans and locro); as well as their recipes, knowledge, practices and flavors transmitted from generation to generation and all the material, immaterial elements associated to them (corn, in its different varieties) as a cultural manifestation.”[16]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.

[18] Among the vegetables, leaves such as chard, lettuce, green onion, spinach, bok choy, cabbage, chicory and parsley stand out.

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.

[24] 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.

[27] Paraguay has the seventh most populated cattle herd in America, after Brazil, United States, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela.

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.

Milk constitutes the main diet of Paraguayans at breakfast, so much so that it reaches educational institutions in school snack programs.

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.

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.

[36] 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.[36] 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.

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.

[38] In the Paraguayan cuisine, cassava starch is mixed with cheese and milk to make baked buns called chipa, the most common snack.

At the end of 2015, the furor of technological thermoses began, which although it had not yet become popular then, is for the reason that it needed adjustments and studies to guarantee its commercial exploitation.

[46] After a brief return and cessation of activities at the beginning of the 20th century, in 2019 oenology was established again to produce the only high-quality wine range made in Paraguay.