Chipa guasu
The chipa guasu is a cake made with corn grains, onions and Paraguayan cheese. It is one of 70 varieties of chipa, a traditional set of side dishes from Paraguay. It is often served in asados.
 Chipa guasu served with salad | |
| Type | Cake |
|---|---|
| Course | Breakfast or snack |
| Place of origin | Guaraní-Jesuit Missions and some other parts of South America where it is called "pastel de choclo" |
| Created by | Guaraní |
| Main ingredients | Choclo, fat, milk, egg, cheese |
Origin of the name
Chipa refers generically to a diverse group of cakes that has corn as a base for its preparation. Chipa are part of the Tyra, a Guaraní term that names every food consumed to accompany the mate cocido, milk or coffee, or prepared just to be an addition to other dishes. Guasu means “big”.
Ingredients and preparation
Chipa guasu contains medium size onions, milk, salt, eggs, Paraguayan cheese (a very fresh cheese), Criollo cheese or Mar del Plata cheese, oil and fresh corn kernels.
Chopped onions, water and salt, are boiled in a pot for about 10 minutes, and then let cool down. Traditionally, pork fat is used instead of oil, which is whipped until it turns creamy and of a much lighter color. Then the eggs are added one by one along pieces of fresh cheese, all without stop whipping. The boiled onions are added to this creamy preparation, and also the grains of corn (that have been previously mollified) and the milk. The batter is put in a buttered or floured oven tray and cooked in the oven, at low heat, 180–200 °C (356–392 °F), for about 50–60 minutes.
A variant of chipa guasu may not contain eggs, in which case requires more milk. Chipa guasu is prepared similarly to sopa paraguaya, substituting corn grains for corn flour.
History
According to some scholars in Paraguay, Paraguayan popular gastronomy established itself as a small family industry after the Paraguayan War, fought between 1864 and 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance composed of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Its high caloric content owes to the scarcity of food that plagued the country during and after the conflict. Basic foodstuffs were limited and groceries almost nonexistent, leading to hearty meals intended to provide a full day's nourishment.
References
Further reading
- Asunción 1537: Madre de la gastronomía del Río de la Plata y de Matto Grosso do Sul. Vidal Domínguez Díaz (2017).
- Poytáva: Origen y Evolución de la Gastronomía Paraguaya. Graciela Martínez (2017).
- Tembi’u Paraguay. Josefina Velilla de Aquino.
- Karú rekó – Antropología culinaria paraguaya. Margarita Miró Ibars