At first, I didn't like the smoky smell and flavor of Paraguayan Foods, but after a while (19 years), you realize that it is pretty good and most people's food across the Land will probably have this flavor. Teachers sometimes come in with a smoky hair smell. Sometimes it smells like cocido (burnt sugar and yerba máte mixed with red-hot coals) across the neighborhood. It's actually a very addictive smell and people will always say..."hummmm, I smell cocido!" Since it's cold and rainy lately, the smoky smell of small fires and coal burning is all over.
One of Oscar's favorite foods is Vori-Vori...this is a chicken soup with little cornball dumplings in it. He especially likes it when I make it on my small coal burner and let it boil away all morning.
Here's my recipe:
Soup:
1 small chicken all cut up
1 onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
2 pieces of garlic
salt, pepper to taste
Carrots, potatoes, squash...if you like
Boil for an hour while you form your vori-vori.
Vori-vori:
1 cup corn flour
1/2 cup fresh cheese, crumbled
salt
2 tablespoons flour or self-rising flour
1 egg
hot chicken broth
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add egg and hot soup, but just enough to make a moist dough. Mix with your hands. After you mix it well, form into small balls (vori) about the size of cherry tomatoes. Drop them all together into the boiling broth. Do not cover. Let boil 10 minutes until the vori is cooked. Add oregano.
