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Paraguayan Food History

Historical period

Guaraní agriculture — mandioca, maize, squash, beans, peanut — on the Paraná and Paraguay rivers; Spanish arrival at Asunción in 1537 and a colony built on mestizaje rather than replacement, which is why Guaraní survived as the majority language; the JESUIT REDUCTIONS of 1609-1767, which organised Guaraní communities around agriculture, cattle and yerba and whose expulsion ended that system; independence in 1811 and the closed self-sufficient state under the Francia and López governments; the WAR OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE of 1864-70, which killed a catastrophic share of the population — estimates vary widely but the demographic collapse is not in dispute — and left a country of women, subsistence farming and ruined herds; Mennonite and Japanese settlement in the twentieth century; the Chaco War with Bolivia; and the soy frontier since the 1970s.

Atlas — where and when

What is recorded

  • The Jesuit reductions of 1609-1767 organised Guaraní communities around agriculture, cattle and yerba mate cultivation, and their expulsion ended that system. The War of the Triple Alliance of 1864-70 caused a demographic collapse whose scale is estimated very differently by different historians but is not itself disputed, and left a subsistence agriculture worked largely by women. documented
  • Spanish foundation of Asunción; a colony built on mestizaje rather than population replacement, which is why Guaraní survived as the majority language and its food vocabulary with it. documented
  • The Jesuit reductions organise Guaraní communities around agriculture, cattle and yerba mate cultivation; their expulsion in 1767 ends the system and disperses the plantations. documented
  • The War of the Triple Alliance. The demographic collapse is not disputed though its scale is estimated very differently; it left a country of women, subsistence farming and ruined herds. documented

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.