( CNN ) -- In Paraguay 's capital city of Asuncion , residents amble down the streets with jugs and insulated cups of all shapes and sizes , sipping yerba mate tea through straws . ( Or perhaps it 's terere , yerba mate 's cold counterpart , served heavy over ice . ) Locals and visitors alike might stroll past a food stall hawking bori bori , a thick soup of corn flour dumplings and chicken . There 's also bife koygua to sample , beef smothered with fried onions and topped with a fried egg . The more pescatarian-minded might try a bounty of fish like surubi , a type of bottom-dwelling catfish , and dorado , all straight from the Paraguay River . 14 things to know about Paraguay . But almost everyone will want to encounter one of the country 's most intriguing dishes , which came about as a serendipitous failure . Sopa paraguaya , which means Paraguayan soup , is a misnomer . It is not even close to being a soup ; in fact , it 's more akin to a cheesy cornbread . As with any national dish , there is a certain amount of lore that stews around its origin . Legend has it that Carlos Antonio Lopez , the corpulent and corrupt president-cum-dictator of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862 , decided one day to feast upon a nice warming bowl of corn soup . The cook accidentally put too much corn flour in the soup , and what came out was a solid rather than a liquid . Fearing Lopez 's notorious iron fist , the cook decided to slice and serve the cake-like soup with a bit of nationalistic advertising as sopa paraguaya . To the cook 's luck , Lopez liked the marketing and , even more so , the newfangled sopa . Nowadays , its a dish -- the country 's national dish , at that -- most often served at special occasions like Holy Week and weddings , but it 's too good a dish not to make at home from time to time . Sopa Paraguaya . ( Serves 8 ) Excerpted from `` Mallmann On Fire '' by Francis Mallmann ( Artisan Books ) . Copyright © 2014 . Photographs by Santiago Soto Monllor . 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil . 1¼ cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal . 3 onions , finely chopped . 1½ cups whole milk . 3 large eggs , lightly beaten . 1 teaspoon coarse salt . ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper . 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes , or to taste . 1¼ cups finely diced fresh mozzarella . 1 . Heat an oven to 375°F , with a rack in the lower third . Brush a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan well with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and coat with ¼ cup of the cornmeal . 2 . Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over low heat . Add the onions and saute until tender and translucent ; do not let them brown . Set aside to cool to room temperature . 3 . In a medium bowl , mix together the milk , beaten eggs , salt , pepper , red pepper flakes and cooled onions . Sprinkle one-third of the remaining cornmeal evenly over the bottom of the pan . Scatter one-third of the mozzarella evenly over it . Ladle one-third of the milk , egg and onion mixture over the cheese . Repeat two more times . The mixture will look quite wet . 4 . Set the pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour , until puffed and golden brown and quite fluffy ; do not let it get too firm , or it will be dry . Cool in the pan on a rack . 5 . Run a metal spatula around the sides of the pan to loosen the sopa , place a platter or tray over the top and invert to unmold . See more food news , culture and downright deliciousness on Eatocracy .
Sopa paraguaya is the national dish of Paraguay and is n't a soup at all . Legend has it that a president 's cook created it by accident . Comment: