Chipacitos Correntinos, Argentinian Cheese-Bread

There a are hundreds of variations on this recipe and loads of names for them, chipá, cuñapé, pão de queijo. The recipe originates with the Guaraní people of Southern South America and can be found in the areas they originate from, so Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay. This recipe comes from Corrientes, a very green province, flanked by two enormous rivers in the far north east of Argentina.  The most important thing, more important that whichever name you may choose to use, is that they are delicious and very very cheesy!

The flour for this recipe can easily be found in Asian and African supermarkets, but is rare in the typical large British supermarkets, it can be found named as ‘tapioca’, ‘manioc’, ‘mandioca’, or ‘cassava’ and listed as a ‘starch’ or ‘flour’, there is no difference between these, if it has any of these names then you have the right product. The original recipe I was given suggested using Gouda cheese, but after looking around online for a while I settled for a mix of Parmesan and Manchego, which produced a flavour I was very satisfied with.

– Recipe –

Ingredients

500g  Tapioca Starch // 1 Egg // 100g Butter or Lard (at room temperature) // 100g Grated Parmesan // 100g Manchego Cheese, cut into 5mm cubes // 1 soup-spoon of Salt // 160 ml Milk // 160 ml Orange Juice

1. Mix the Flour with the Salt by hand and then rub in the Butter, continue rubbing in all of the Cheese until it is incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the Eggs, the Orange Juice, and the Milk.
3. Slowly mix the liquids into the Dough, a little at a time and then add more Milk as needed (literally a drip at a time) until you have a firm, but not damp, Dough. When I made it the Dough would occasionally crumble, but could easily just be rolled back into shape.
4. Roll the Dough into roughly 2cm wide tubes and then cut into 2cm segments. Roll these segments in your hands into small balls. Put them to cool in the fridge or the freezer.
5. Heat the oven to 220c (200c fan over, gas mark 7), and then when piping hot, put the cold balls in on a tray. Cook for approx 10-14 minutes until just starting to brown in places.

Best enjoyed while piping hot! The texture will firm up and change as the balls cool, they will keep for a day or two, but it is hard to keep them that long!