by Chef Paulo Machado in reference to the Pantanal Food Trip
As delicious as eating what we produce is learning about that food or ingredient behind a recipe. In times of confinement, staying at home to prevent coronavirus, cooking has become a habit in quarantine. Not that delivery food is doomed. Far from it, not everyone wants or has a vocation to cook daily.
Bolo Souza or Chipa Frita is a delicacy from the Pantanal. Produced in several regions of MT and MS and also in Paraguay and that can be a very easy recipe for these unconventional days.
It is in the neighboring country that the chipa (or chipá) becomes a fundamental dish in the food culture, whose long tradition records more than 80 types. In Paraguay there are variations ranging from different crisps to thicknesses, made with the most diverse ingredients, as different as peanuts and anise seeds. The chips are made with cassava starch, corn, fresh cheese, eggs, lard, butter and milk. Sometimes they are stuffed with ground meat or vegetables.
The term chipá has been found in Guarani dictionaries since the 17th century, using the word tipá, defined as flour and oil pie – this and other information about the history and culture of regional gastronomy you learn during Food Safari Pantanal (Food Trip Pantanal)
In Mato Grosso do Sul, they have different shapes: they are made in balls, round or horseshoe shape, the most common. I adapted this recipe based on the teachings of cook Dona Celeide, who worked for many years with my family, on the Santa Helena farm.
Ingredients:
1 kg of sweet powder or arrowroot
500 g of grated cheese
6 eggs
1 cup of boiling milk
1 cup of cream milk
1 pinch of salt
oil for frying or lard
Way of preparing:
In a bowl, scald the starch with the boiling milk.
Add the cheese, eggs, cream and salt. Knead well with your hands, until a homogeneous mass is formed.
Roll the dough in the shape of cylinders, the thickness of a finger.
Fry the sticks (or roll and make donuts) in the oil, by immersion, over high heat. Keep a lid close to the pan and, when frying, protect yourself with it, as the dough is very moist and can “pop”. Serve hot.
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