Mbuyapé
mbuyape («pan»)
The “bread” of the Cario-Guaraní: maize or cassava cakes made with animal fat, a direct ancestor of chipa and sopa paraguaya.
What it is
Mbuyapé means “bread” in Guaraní. Chroniclers of the conquest, including the German Ulrich Schmidl, report that the Cario-Guaraní made cakes and breads from maize, sweet corn or cassava starch mixed with animal fat. They were wrapped in leaves (güembé or banana) and cooked in hot ashes, with no oven and no yeast. With the cattle the Spaniards brought, milk, cheese and eggs were added, and from that meeting came chipa, sopa paraguaya and other dishes of the family. Today mbuyapé is mostly a historical name, but it is among the 51 dishes that DINAPI declared Paraguayan gastronomic heritage in 2018.
Ingredients
History
The earliest references come from 16th-century chroniclers such as Ulrich Schmidl. Historian Margarita Miró explains that the cassava-and-maize flour cake already existed among the Guaraní and that after contact eggs, milk and cheese were added, giving rise to chipa.
Did you know…?
Chipa, mbeju and sopa paraguaya belong to the group of foods called “týra”: everything eaten alongside mate cocido, milk or coffee.
When
Today it is known more as a historical reference than as an everyday dish.
Where
It is the shared origin of the maize and cassava foods of the whole country, especially around Asunción and the Cordillera.
Researched and reviewed in September 2026 with 4 sources. A second reviewer checked dates, coordinates and lodging. Hours and prices may change.