Argentine cuisine is described as a blending of cultures, from the Indigenous peoples of Argentina who focused on ingredients such as humita, potatoes, cassava, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and yerba mate, to Mediterranean influences brought by the Spanish during the colonial period. This led to cultural blending of criollos, Indigenous, and sub-Saharan African in the cuisine. Later, this was complemented by the significant influx of Italian and Spanish immigrants to Argentina during the 19th and 20th centuries, who incorporated plenty of their food customs and dishes such as pizzas, pasta and Spanish tortillas.
Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse with varying cuisines. Some items typical of Latin American cuisine include maize-based dishes arepas, empanadas, pupusas, tacos, tamales, tortillas and various salsas and other condiments. Sofrito, a culinary term that originally referred to a specific combination of sautéed or braised aromatics, exists in Latin American cuisine. It refers to a sauce of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, garlic, onions and herbs. Rice, corn, pasta, bread, plantain, potato, yucca, and beans are also staples in Latin American cuisine.
Asado is the technique and the social event of having or attending a barbecue in various South American countries: especially Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay where it is also a traditional event. An asado usually consists of beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, and morcilla; all of which are cooked using an open fire or a grill, called a parrilla. Usually, red wine and side dishes such as salads accompany the main meats, which are prepared by a designated cook called the asador or parrillero.
Salvadoran cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of El Salvador. The indigenous foods consist of a mix of Amerindian cuisine from groups such as the Lenca, Pipil, Maya Poqomam, Maya Chʼortiʼ, Alaguilac and Cacaopera peoples. Many of the dishes are made with maize (corn). There is also heavy use of pork and seafood. European ingredients were incorporated after the Spanish conquest.
Pão de queijo or Brazilian cheese bread is a small, baked cheese roll or cheese bun, a popular snack and breakfast food in Brazil. It is a traditional Brazilian recipe, originating in the state of Minas Gerais.
Chipa is a type of small, baked, cheese-flavored rolls, a popular snack and breakfast food in Paraguay. The recipe has existed since the 18th century and its origins lie with the Guaraní people of Asunción. It is inexpensive and often sold from streetside stands and on buses by vendors carrying a large basket with the warm chipa wrapped in a cloth.
The culture of Paraguay reflects the Spanish and indigenous influences of the country. Paraguay's cultural heritage can be traced to the extensive intermarriage between the original male Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní women. Their culture is highly influenced by various European countries, including Spain. Therefore, Paraguayan culture is a fusion of two cultures and traditions; one European, the other, Southern Guaraní. More than 93% of Paraguayans are mestizos, making Paraguay one of the most homogeneous countries in Latin America. A characteristic of this cultural fusion is the extensive bilingualism present to this day: more than 80% of Paraguayans speak both Spanish and the indigenous language, Guaraní. Jopara, a mixture of Guaraní and Spanish, is also widely spoken.
Vori vori is a thick, yellow soup with little balls made of corn flour, and cheese, and it's traditional of the Paraguayan cuisine. It is essentially of Cario-Guarani and Sephardic origins, and derives from one of the commemorative dishes of the Passover as it derives from the Matza balls, replacing the wheat semolina with the corn flour of the Carios.
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 the Asunción and its surroundings.
The chipa guasu is a cake made with corn grains, onions and Paraguayan cheese. It is one of 70 varieties of chipa, a traditional set of side dishes from Paraguay. It is often served in asados.
Extremadura, Spain is known for its different ways of preparing the Iberian pork and mutton. The main characteristics of the traditional Extremaduran cuisine are its simplicity, its lack of clutter and its low cost. It is also a cuisine reflecting a generous spirit, for many of its preparations used to be cooked in large pots to share with visitors, friends, and neighbors. The resulting dishes are eaten with local bread.
A great variety of cassava-based dishes are consumed in the regions where cassava is cultivated, and the ingredient is included many national or ethnic specialities.
Paraguayan cuisine is the set of dishes and culinary techniques of Paraguay. It has a marked influence of the Guaraní people combined with the Spanish cuisine and other marked influences coming from the immigration received by bordering countries such as Italian cuisine and German cuisine. The city of Asunción is the epicenter of the distinctive gastronomy that extends in current Paraguay and its areas of influence, which is the reason why is considered the mother of the gastronomy of the Río de la Plata. It is worth clarifying that in the Paraguayan society, the exchange of knowledge between mestizos, creoles and cario-guaraní people occurred before the Jesuit missions.
The cuisine of Chiapas is a style of cooking centered on the Mexican state of the same name. Like the cuisine of rest of the country, it is based on corn with a mix of indigenous and European influences. It distinguishes itself by retaining most of its indigenous heritage, including the use of the chipilín herb in tamales and soups, used nowhere else in Mexico. However, while it does use some chili peppers, including the very hot simojovel, it does not use it as much as other Mexican regional cuisines, preferring slightly sweet seasoning to its main dishes. Large regions of the state are suitable for grazing and the cuisine reflects this with meat, especially beef and the production of cheese. The most important dish is the tamal, with many varieties created through the state as well as dishes such as chanfaina, similar to menudo and sopa de pan. Although it has been promoted by the state of Chiapas for tourism purposes as well as some chefs, it is not as well known as other Mexican cuisine, such as that of neighboring Oaxaca.
Cheese buns or cheese breads may refer to a variety of small, baked, cheese-flavored rolls, a popular snack and breakfast food in Brazil. Cheese buns may be made with cassava and or corn starch, and cheese. In countries where the snack is popular, it is inexpensive and often sold from street vendors, bakeries, in snack shops, and in grocery stores.
Sopa correntina is a traditional food of the Corrientes Province and part of the Chaco Province, a product of the absorption of the Guaraní culture and mainly of Paraguay. Its invention is attributed to the typical Sopa paraguaya.
Juliana, better known as the India Juliana, is the Christian name of a Guaraní woman who lived in the newly founded Asunción, in early-colonial Paraguay, known for killing a Spanish colonist between 1539 and 1542. She was one of the many indigenous women who were handed over to or stolen by the Spanish, forced to work for them and bear children. Since the area was not rich in minerals as they had anticipated, colonists generated wealth through the forced labor of indigenous people—especially the sexual exploitation of women of childbearing age.
Lambaré, also transliterated as Lampere, was a purported cacique of the Guaraní people who fought against and subsequently reconciled with Spanish conquistadors in what is now Paraguay in the 16th century.
