Good Lifestyle

You will be surprised to learn that the national dish of the country of Paraguay stems from a mistake of presidential chefs. The chef was confused when adding too much cornstar to the cheese soup recipe and instead, a famous bread was born.

What is Sopa Paraguaya?

"Sopa" means soup, but Sopa Paraguaya is the name of a traditional Paraguayan corn cake with cheese flavor and onions. Traditionally, the cheese used in this corn cake is Queso Paraguay, a soft white cheese made from cow's milk. However, some other chefs also use similar cheese, Mozzarella.

This corn cake is often served as a dish with soup or grilled meat on special occasions such as Holy Week and Wedding, or used as a popular breakfast or afternoon snacks on weekdays. Sopa Paraguaya has a bread -like texture but is quite similar to a cheese soufflé.

Sopa Paraguaya is similar to Chipa Guaza, another traditional Paraguayan dish made from corn. However, Chipa Guzu is made from fresh corn, not cornstarch.

"Incidentally defeat" creates Sopa Paraguaya

The interesting story behind the Sopa Paraguaya corn cake explains why it is not "soup" but the name has the word "Sopa".

According to Paraguay's legend, this famous cake stems from a mistake while processing the dish of President Carlos Antonio Lopez's own chef in the middle of the 19th century. of South America.

One day, he wanted to enjoy a bowl of delicious hot corn soup. However, the chef made a "deadly" mistake when putting too much cornstarch in the soup and did not have time to prepare for other corn soup. Fear of the notorious "steel fist" of Carlos Antonio Lopez, the chef decided to bake it in the clay furnace and create a "solid soup".

Luckily, the president loved this new solid soup and named it Sopa Paraguaya. Too excited with the dense bread with cheese corn, the president came up with the idea of ​​serving this dish for ambassadors from other countries. When his son Carlos Antonio Lopez, Francisco Solano Lopez became the president, he also continued to "follow" his father to maintain this tradition. Finally, cheese corn cake has become the official national dish of Paraguay.

How to do Sopa Paraguaya

If you want to taste Paraguay's famous cheese "soup" but do not have the opportunity to travel to this country, you can refer to the simple formula below to do it at home.

Raw materials to be prepared:

2 cups of cornstarch

1 cup of fresh cheese, shredded

1 large, chopped onion

4 tablespoons of lard or butter

3 Eggs

2 glasses of milk

Spices: salt, black pepper

How to make Sopa Paraguaya:

• Heat the oven at 175 ° C and apply fat on the baking tray.
• Stir -fry onions with lard or butter until the onions are soft but do not turn brown.
• Mix the onion stir -fried with cornstarch, cheese and a little salt, pepper.
• Beat the egg separately and put in the mixture.
• Add milk gradually to the mixture to form a thick mass of flour.
• Pour the dough into the baking tray, bake for about an hour or until the upper surface is golden brown.
• Try the maturity of the cake by using a toothpick to poke into Sopa Paraguaya, when you see a clean toothpick, not sticky dough, you have finished the Sopa Paraguaya cake.

In the traditional cake of South America, each ingredient plays its own role to make the delicious taste typical of the cake. Corn flour creates a cake structure, cheese creates a rich flavor, onion helps bring a delicious taste and create a natural sweetness, while eggs help to connect everything together. The perfect result will be a solid corn bread with a firm yellow crust but still retains softness, smoothness inside.

Good luck!