Chipa Paraguaya and Mbjeu: An afternoon of Paraguayan cooking

Chipa is a traditional bread eaten all over Paraguay and Northeastern Argentina.  It is eaten all year long, although it has a special place during Semana Santa (Easter).  As we are approaching Semana Santa, we decided to attempt to recreate one of the best foods Paraguay has to offer.  Chipa is made of mandioca (cassava) flour, butter, eggs, anise, salt, and queso Paraguayo.  (I've been told this cheese is similar to Manchego, which you can find in the U.S.)  Traditionally, it's baked in a clay oven called a tatakua.  We happen to have a tatakua and wanted to put it to use to make the deliciously chewy chipa that we all love.We also made some Mbeju, another Paraguayan specialty that has similar ingredients to chipa.

Matt preparing the fire in the tatakua.

Chipa usually comes in a ring or a cylinder, except at Easter, when you can find animals, crosses, and all sorts of other things. We had hearts, smiley faces, and even a snowman! 

It took us a while to figure out the temperature, but it all tasted good!

This is Mbeju, a kind of mandioca flour pancake.  I put a twist on the traditional by adding chipolte peppers.