flipGuaraní Chipá (Cassava and Cheese Rolls)
Guaraní Chipá (Cassava and Cheese Rolls)
Why this dish? Settled in Corrientes and São Borja, in Guaraní country, Bonpland gradually adopted local habits. Chipá, small rolls of cassava starch and cheese, invariably accompany the morning mate in this region.
Small golden rolls, soft and elastic inside, made from cassava starch, cheese, and eggs. Salty, slightly cheesy, they are eaten warm, broken by hand to dip into mate or broth.
Here, on my lands in Corrientes, one cannot imagine the first mate round of the morning without a basket of still-warm chipás. The Guaraní women knead the starch of this same cassava root with country cheese and an egg, then shape small rolls that they bake in the earthen oven. It is a humble dish, I grant you, but with a savory softness that reconciles the exiled European with his lost bread — and I assure you one becomes more attached to it than to many Parisian delicacies.
- •Cassava starch (almidón) — two measures (dough base)
- •Aged country cheese — a good portion (flavor and binder)
- •Eggs — a few (binder)
- •Fat (lard) and milk — as needed (softness)
Guaraní Chipá (Cassava and Cheese Rolls)
Small golden rolls, soft and elastic inside, made from cassava starch, cheese, and eggs. Salty, slightly cheesy, they are eaten warm, broken by hand to dip into mate or broth.
Why this dish? Settled in Corrientes and São Borja, in Guaraní country, Bonpland gradually adopted local habits. Chipá, small rolls of cassava starch and cheese, invariably accompany the morning mate in this region.
Here, on my lands in Corrientes, one cannot imagine the first mate round of the morning without a basket of still-warm chipás. The Guaraní women knead the starch of this same cassava root with country cheese and an egg, then shape small rolls that they bake in the earthen oven. It is a humble dish, I grant you, but with a savory softness that reconciles the exiled European with his lost bread — and I assure you one becomes more attached to it than to many Parisian delicacies.
Ingredients (period version)
- Cassava starch (almidón) — two measures (dough base)
- Aged country cheese — a good portion (flavor and binder)
- Eggs — a few (binder)
- Fat (lard) and milk — as needed (softness)
Ingredients
- Cassava starch / tapioca flour — 300 g (base)
- Grated cheese (Emmental + Parmesan) — 200 g (umami flavor)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Soft butter or lard — 60 g (softness)
- Milk — 60-80 ml (adjust dough)
- Salt — 1 pinch (seasoning)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 °C.
- Work the butter (or lard) with the salt, then incorporate the eggs one by one.
- Add the grated cheese, then the cassava starch in several batches.
- Pour in the milk little by little until you get a smooth, homogeneous, non-sticky dough (adjust with a little starch or milk).
- Shape into walnut-sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes: the chipás should puff up and turn lightly golden. Enjoy warm.
How it was made : Chipá descends from Guaraní mbujapé, made from cassava starch. With the arrival of cattle and cheeses introduced by Jesuit missions, the recipe was enriched with cheese and eggs. In Bonpland's time, it was baked in the *tatakua*, a traditional earthen oven of Paraguay and northern Argentina.
The contemporary twist : For an appetizer version, add chopped fresh herbs and serve as mini warm bites alongside a cup of cold mate (tereré).
Aimé Bonpland · Charactorium
