Carnivalfest

About the food in Paraguay, just like the rest of the country, we knew absolutely nothing. So we were very excited to try unknown culinary delights, fresh exotic fruits, and, being very close to Argentina, the finest grilled meat. Actually, it is exactly like that, just somehow different, especially when it comes to the ratio of this finest meat to everything else...

All of this could also be explained by the absurdly cheap meat prices. Each package that Hansi is holding with 4 kilograms costs only about 6€!

Actually, in Paraguay, there are two cows for every person and they also need to be eaten. There is an abundance of meat! And when we say meat, we always mean beef, because if it was chicken or pork, we would say that ;) And most of it is really, really good and is best enjoyed in the form of Asado.

Asado is the traditional way of grilling here, but it is much more than a typical German barbecue evening. Here, twice or even three times as much meat is grilled as everyone could possibly eat. However, it is important to note that not everyone eats together (maybe because of stomachache, nausea, or simply because the kids have just had Chicken McNuggets at McDonald's :D ). During Asado, the grill master celebrates his work according to all the rules of the art, and enjoys it to the fullest! (And rightly so!)

Grill master Oscar

Finally, the meat is placed in portions and bite-sized pieces on a huge wooden board in the center and everyone eats from it. Ice-cold beer is shared and it becomes a wonderful celebration of togetherness!

Asado with the family and the two founders of PO, Eric (with a beard) and Fercho (right next to Hansi).

Chipa Guasu in similar large quantities. Oskar says his son (or daughter?) would always eat one by themselves.

Avocado mafia!

The remaining meat is then eaten for lunch and dinner the next few days, often with meat tortellini as a side dish. If it can't all be eaten, the best quality meat ends up in the evening rice pots of the dogs. And to make sure they still get something, despite the abundance of leftover meat, sometimes we stop by the small street polleria next door and buy 2 additional chickens.

Polleria and probably also a classroom for the little girl.

When there are 2 cows for every person, that means there are at least 4000 mangos in Paraguay! So many that, according to Oskar, they have to be shoveled off the streets with shovels. However, they simply don't eat them. Oskar explains it like this: you don't really like anything that you have a lot of. So they prefer not to eat fruit and try to avoid vegetables by all means. Papa always gets the biggest laughs when he tells others that we have fruit, cereal, and milk for breakfast and eat salad at work. No one can believe it! Especially the fruit is really amazing, so we have mangos (huge!), pineapples (tiny!), bananas, and soon also pomelos from the region every morning!

Another typical snack is Empanadas. These small fried pastries (meat, chicken, cheese-ham, egg) are considered a complete meal in large quantities and with a bit of sugar/milk bread, and can be bought at the lunch restaurant next to the office. There are also the popular tartes with various fillings, and sometimes even with vegetable filling.

Empanadas with bread and a vegetarian tarta for a change

If you don't want to leave the office for lunch, there is always the option of having something delivered, although sometimes it feels like a gamble and you end up getting 'Noquis a la crema con Jamon', which are classic gnocchi..

Gnocchi are simply not part of the traditional cuisine...

All in all, it is exactly as expected and also completely different. Every day there is something new to smile about, so this won't be the last food blog.

Just recently, we discovered that the 'Auto Paletti' store next to the office is not actually an automotive workshop with a strange logo, but it is actually a drive-in for Paletti ice cream! And not just any ice cream, no: Paletti refers to ice cream on a stick with liquid filling, such as chocolate, caramel / dulce de leche, or sweetened condensed milk. It's also a puzzle how you can eat it in the car on Paraguayan roads and traffic without any accidents. But the place is buzzing!

And for those who have made it this far, here is a little bit of plastic food from the supermarket: