Thursday and Friday are the bank holidays, but most Paraguayans take Wednesday off too, for the serious business of making chipa - a kind of baked cheesy maize roll/scone/biscuit hybrid.
Demetria has a grinding machine, so on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday half the population of the town dropped by our house to have their maize ground into flour.
The other ingredients for the dough are cassava flour, eggs, Paraguayan cheese, butter or pig fat and aniseed.
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| 7 kg of cassava flour going in |
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| That orange bit in the middle consists of over 30 eggs and a couple of litres of pig fat. |
Then you knead the dough and make it into the classic chipa shape, or in my case assorted animals...
Meanwhile, you make a fire inside your outdoor brick oven - the "tatakua" (Guarani 'fire hole')
When it's glowing, you sweep out the wood and embers (in your flip-flops, with a broom made of very flammable twigs, naturally). Then you put in the chipa trays and cover up the hole.
Remove and eat with cocido (caramelised yerba mate with hot water and milk).
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| These are the classic shapes. |
Chipa is a 'fasting' food, which you eat on Good Friday when you can't have meat. Of course, everyone has far too much so a lot of exchanging goes on.
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