Horacio Cambeiro · CC BY 4.0Mandioca
mandi'o
The root that takes the place of bread on the Paraguayan table: boiled, fried or transformed.
What it is
Boiled cassava goes with almost everything: barbecue, steak, fish, stews. It arrives in tender white chunks that are eaten the way you would eat bread. Fried, it is a crisp and much-requested side. It is also the source of the starch in chipa and mbeju, the dough of pastel mandi'o and payagua mascada, and even typyraty. It is, quite literally, the foundation of the country’s cooking.
Ingredients
History
An ancient crop of the Guaraní peoples, cassava has sustained the Paraguayan diet since before the conquest. Every part is used: root, starch, flour and pulp.
Did you know…?
If your meat arrives without cassava, just ask: for many Paraguayans a meal without mandi'o is incomplete.
When
Every day.
Where
Nationwide.
Researched and reviewed in September 2026 with 2 sources. A second reviewer checked dates, coordinates and lodging. Hours and prices may change.