Making chipa is a popular tradition during Holy Week (“semana santa”) in Paraguay.  This week, two national newspapers featured front page pictures of chipa being made, and contained ads for ovens to cook the chipa and a political cartoon showing the President of Paraguay cooking chipa. 

Chipa, is a type of small cheese-flavored bread.  

It is dense and chewy and although it is often the same shape and size as a bagel, it does not taste like a bagel.  It is very common to see chipa being sold at stop lights at busy intersections in Paraguay by street vendors balancing a tray of chip on their heads.  

Danny and Patrick got into the chipa-making spirit this week too, making chipa with their preschool classmates.  

Here are the finished products! 

This is Patrick’s creation in the shape, he said, of a “caracol” (snail).

Brian and I are not particularly found of chipa but our boys love it, especially Danny, who eats just about very single bit of food he’s offered!