Sunday, August 28, 2011

Our Food of the Week is...Chipa!

Chipa is actually a Paraguayan specialty. Our friend, Lola, introduced us to the addictiveness of chipa when we went for a visit to her house on day. Chipa or Chipitas (little chipas), are these little chewy biscuits studded with cheese bits. Good chipitas are slightly crusty on the outside, and chewy on the inside. We usually eat chipitas with mate' (to be covered in another post) on Friday afternoons. Not every bakery sells good chipa or chipitas, so we are constantly searching for one that makes these little delicacies close to our neighborhood. Currently, the only bakery we can find is a good 30 minute walk away from our apartment in San Telmo. However, one could argue that this is also a good thing because if there were a bakery close by with good chipitas, we would probably just end up surviving on chipitas and nothing else.
I tried to look up a recipe and I stumbled across a blog authored by a Paraguayan chef who explained that the secret behind chipa is using yucca starch/flour...and not regular corn or wheat flour. The yucca starch base gives chipa it's chewy texture, while the other flours can result in a chalky texture.
Though chipa is not Argentine, it is for sure something we will try to recreate once we return home.

Chipitas with mate'
It seems like a lot, but before you know it, they are all gone
and you're wondering why you didn't buy more.


2 comments:

  1. Sound tasty... keep on scouting around for the best place when we visit.

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  2. oh dad, we'll have plenty of chipa and mate when you come down. We have fantastic source of chipa, i.e. the best.

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