Before I came to Paraguay I tried to look up what kind of food they have here, what I saw online is totally different then what they actually eat here =) Almost all the food is different in some way or another. The only thing I have eaten that is the most similar would be my chicken sandwich from Burger King, but even that was different. The chicken was not as good as in the U.S. which kind of suprised me, and they have McDonalds fries, and the ice cream was not as thick. It was not bad though. Right now I probably sound like a pig because I am discribing in full detail my fast food, but I have actually only had fast food twice since I have been here, and once was last night (that is why I can remember what I eat so well). I have seen more Burger Kings than McDonalds, but I hate McDonalds so I do not mind.
Lets forget the crappy fast food that I barly eat and I will tell you about normal food here. Before anything though understand that meals here are different. Breakfast is small, and they do not have pancakes or waffles. I usually have cafe con leche and bread, maybe with some fruit. I have also had chipa for breakfast too. (I will explain chipa later.) Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. It is like dinner. It took me a while to ajust to it, sometimes it makes me feel like a pig. It is usually rice, or sometimes pasta with meat, but almost never chicken. Between lunch and dinner is merienda around 5-7 and it is usually cafe con leche, bread, cookies, sometimes empandas or tortillas, just light things. Around 7 or later people have dinner, which it light, sort of like lunch, sometimes sandwiches, or empanadas.
This is merienda, but it is not a good example of it.
Common food here that I have never seen in the U.S. would be stuff like mandioka, sopa Paraguaya, milanesa, empanadas, and a crap load of eggs. Mandioka is like the only food here that I just do not like. For some reason I just find it really hard to swallow. It is a lot like a potatoe, but when you see it and taste it you know it is some how different. Sopa Paraguaya sort of looks like corn bread, but even though it is not like it, it still is pretty good. It is a bit dry or crumbly, but at the same time moist. It has onions and corn, and is not sweet like corn bread, well at least corn bread is sweeter. I was addicted to empanadas earlier into my trip, them and bread, bread is everywhere too. You can get them really small, or just like normal sized. Carne are the best, do listen to what others might tell you. Oh milanesa, that is probably my favorite new food here. It is sort of like country fried stake, sort of. It is very common and I think usually eaten with mashed potatoes. Here, eggs are everywhere. The are on hamburgers, any sandwich, sometimes with rice, in empanadas, with fried mandioka, and lots of other things. I do not like eggs, but since they are in lots of my food I eat them and I have started to forget that they are even there. Other typical things are rice and meat dishes, soups, and rice and bread with pretty much everything. Fruit is common, but not with meals, and the only vegetables are those in your salad, and you do not always eat salad. I do miss vegetables. There are lots of other foods, like lomito, andstuff, but I can not write down everything.
This is milanesa with potatoes and onions.
This is me and my host mom!
I forgot to mention drinks, so I will do that as quickly as possible. Fruit juice is everwhere, and it is cheep, I like to buy it when I can. People here drink a lot of Coke, not really Pepsi. When you buy a big thing of Coke, or any pop, it comes in a glass bottle that you have to return to the store when you are done. Pulp is a drink from Paraguay. It is like an orange pop, I like it, and I do not really like many pops! Coffee with milk and sugar is something I drink at least once a day, it is really good. They sell lots of carbonated water, but I always buy sin gas, or regular water. One drink that is only in Paraguay, or some small parts of Argentina is terere. It is like mate, but you drink it when it is hot out side and it is a cold drink. Mate is always hot, and is all over South America. Mate is usually common with adults, or even older people, but everyone drinks terere. It is a part of the culture. When you drink it you carry around your terere, the cup, and your thermal. The cup is always needing to be refilled. You fill it with the yerba stuff and it starts of strong but as you keep drinking it, it gets less and less. People pass it around and you drink it out of a metal straw. At first I did not like it, but now I drink it everyday.
This is to make your own yerba, but most people just buy it.
It is in my hand, we were teaching English, but people drink it and take it EVERYWHERE!
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