Mbeju

Mbeju is a starch cake sometimes made with fariña or manioc flour typical of Paraguay. The recipe has existed since the 18th century and its origins lie with the indigenous Cario-Guarani people that lived in Asunción and its surroundings.

The name "mbejú" (also written "mbeyú") means "cake" and comes from the Guarani language. Guarani is one of the two official languages of Paraguay, which defines itself as being bilingual and multi-cultural. The mbejú is bound to the Guarani mythology to be one of the most ancient recipes of this culture. Traditionally, there were about 16 ways to prepare it, although nowadays, 11 are recognized. Next to the chipa and the sopa paraguaya it is part of the so-called "tyra", a Guarani term for food consumed to accompany the "mate cocido", milk or coffee, or simply an addition to other dishes.

History
Some revisionist historians point out that, during the colonial era, the German traveler Ulrich Schmidl was already talking about the recipe for that kind of starchy bread made by the Cario-Guarani people (a native tribe who used to live in Asunción). Schmidl was in charge of noting in the logbook of the Spanish ship in which the expedition led by Juan de Ayolas arrived, which would arrive in Asunción later, thus giving rise to the first encounter between Spaniards and the Cario-Guarani people. Before being known as mbeju, there was a menu that was already part of the varieties of bread that the Cario-Guarani natives had in the early days of the conquest. Back then, the food the Cario-Guarani people used to eat was “mbujape”, which translated from Guarani means “bread”. To cook the mbujapé, corn flour or cassava starch was combined with animal fat and then it was wrapped in a banana leaf and placed in the tanimbú to cook it.

There is the wrong idea of naming Paraguayan cuisine as "Guarani cuisine". Paraguayan gastronomy was born from the fusion of Spanish cuisine and Cario-Guaraní cuisine, which was developed due to the influence of the Franciscan priests, the Spanish conquers and the mestizos asuncenos, which took place in Asunción and its surroundings. Towns such as Tobatí, Atyrá, Altos, Areguá, Ypané, Guarambaré, Itá and Yaguarón are living examples of how Paraguayan culture developed outside and far from the mercantile influence of the Jesuits. When the Jesuits were expelled in 1767, the natives returned to their natural habitat (the Atlantic jungle) and they never go to Asunción and its area of influence to educate or teach, proof of this is the extinction of Jesuit ceramics and not the Franciscan that is still alive in Itá, Areguá and Tobatí.

The first antecedents of Spanish and Cario-Guaraní syncretism took place at the time of the foundation of Asunción and surroundings, where the Franciscan reductions of Altos, Atyrá, Guarambaré, Itá, etc. were later founded. In the Governorate of Paraguay, a Catholic jurisdiction called "Paraguaria Province" was circumscribed. This province, dependent on the Viceroyalty of Peru, covered the regions of Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile (between 1604 and 1617). Since 1617, the Paraguaria Province was dismembered to the Governorate of the Río de la Plata and the Governorate of Paraguay, thus remaining under the jurisdiction of the latter. Then this region became part of the ephemeral Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776-1810). The culture developed in Greater Paraguay was very strong since the Guarani people were used by the conquerors and evangelizers as intermediaries with other Amerindian civilizations. For these reasons, the Paraguayan culture that characterizes Asunción remained strong in this area, and in turn spread to areas where the cattle were later introduced, with the founding of Corrientes in 1588, the oldest city in the northeast of Argentina.

In the logs (of travelers such as Ulrich Schmidl) and in the historical records of the colonial era, it appears in several paragraphs that the Cario-Guarani (a tribe that inhabited the Asunción area) prepared cakes and breads based on cassava, corn, and sweet corn mixed with animal fat, known as "mbujapé" ("bread" in Guarani language). The Cario-Guarani diet was complemented with European foods that the Spaniards brought from the old continent. This was due to the introduction of cattle in 1556 in Asunción, so thanks to these animals the new ingredients were finally obtained such as beef, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. In this way, the meals derived from the Cario-Guarani gastronomic base (corn, cassava, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc.) were finally mixed with the ingredients brought by the Spaniards (meat, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.). This union gave rise to foods that have been consumed from the colonial era to the present. In this context, the recipe for typical Paraguayan dishes actually originated, which has cassava, corn, sweet corn, Paraguay cheese, milk and beef as their base ingredients.

Ingredients
Traditional mbejú require starch, corn flour, pork fat, thin salt, fresh cheese and milk. The variety called "mbejú avevo" ("inflated cake") uses the same ingredients but with the pork fat, the eggs and the cheese in larger quantities. Another variant, "mbejú de fariña" in which manioc flour is used instead of manioc starch.

There are other recipes for the Mbeju. Mbeju cuatro quesos, for example, which means mbeju with extra cheese, requires 250 grams of cassava starch, 75 grams of butter, 150 grams of fresh cheese, 2 spoonful of milk, salt, 2 tomatoes perita, 100 grams of cuartirolo cheese, 50 grams catupyry cheese, oregano, basil leaves, and black pepper.

Preparation
The starch is sifted. Fat and the crumbled cheese are added and the mixture is whipped until creamy. Eggs, salt and milk are added as the whipping continues. Finally the starch and corn flour are added, mixing everything using the hands until a thick powder-like preparation results.

A greased frying pan is allowed to get very hot. A layer of the mixture of about 1½ centimeters is put into the pan, squeezing the borders with the back of a spoon. It is cooked for a few minutes, moving the pan so it cooks evenly without burning the center. Using the lid of the pan, flip the mbejú, finishing the cooking the same way as above.

Steps for the extra cheese mbeju: Put the Paraguayan cheese into a bowl with the butter and whisk with a spoon until it is creamed. Add the starch and a little bit of salt, as soon as it gets hard add some milk and whisk again until it gets creamy. For the filling, cut the tomatoes and the cheese into slices. In a hot pan add the dough covering the entire surface, on the top add the tomatoes and the cheese the oregano, basil, and a little bit of pepper. Cover up the pan again with some more dough, and cook for 3 minutes on each side.