Chipa Guazú y Sopa Paraguaya by Elida Sanabria Aranda
Elida Sanabria Aranda demonstrates how to make two Paraguayan staples, chipa guazu and sopa paraguaya, in her kitchen in Bedford Hills, NY.
Nearly a fourth of all Paraguayans live outside Paraguay. Westchester County is home to one of the largest Paraguayan communities in the United States—with the highest concentrations in White Plains, Harrison, and Mamaroneck. Other large Paraguayan populations in the USA are concentrated in Queens, NY, Somerset County, NJ, Miami-Dade County, FL, and Montgomery County, MD. Although the first documented Paraguayans living in the US arrived in the mid-1800s, larger waves of immigrants began to arrive in the 1940s. Immigration to the US peaked in the late-1970s as economic opportunities in Paraguay shrank causing many young Paraguayans to seek better education, job training and professional opportunities abroad. Many Paraguayan-Americans have found employment in the service industry, particularly in home cleaning and hotel housekeeping, and agricultural employment, as well as in a variety of professional services.
