Lampreado


Lampreado, also known as Lambreado or “Payaguá Mascada”, is a dish typical of the cuisine of Paraguay, that has a high nutritional value.
This is a delicious fried cake which base is one of the most characteristic features of culinary taste of Northeast of Paraguay: cassava.

Origin of name

While the word "Lambreado" is a degeneration of the correct "Lampreado" there is little data about the origin of the name of this fried cake made of cassava, known in Paraguay as mandioca, and beef.
In Paraguay, a Castilian-Guarani bilingual country, and in Northeastern Argentine it is also called "payaguá mascada", an allusion to one of the tribes of the Guarani people who populated the Paraguayan geography in pre-Columbian times.

Ingredients

There are several varieties of "Lampreado." The more traditional ingredients are as follows: cassava/mandioca, boiled and ground beef, garlic, onion, salt, oil and breadcrumbs.
In other varieties that are heavier on the stomach, pella or pork fat is used, and the starch and cassava are mixed with raw meat.

Preparation

The preparation process is simple. The cassava is peeled and cooked in salted water until it is reasonably soft but not too soft. It is then mashed and mixed with ground beef, garlic and onions previously fried in oil, and salt and breadcrumbs.
With this mixture, you get “small cakes”, or more properly "tortillas” which are fried in oil.
To reduce its caloric value and its heaviness it's recommended that you serve the tortillas with a mixed vegetable salad.

Further details of interest

The Lampreado can be kept for several days, and it is ideal for the "avio", also provisions taken by travelers and "troperos" to eat during their journey.
In the area of the department of Misiones, Paraguay, it's called "Lambreado", what elsewhere is known by the name of "marinera", made with either beef or chicken.