From vori vori to sopa paraguaya: Senate seeks a national day for Paraguay’s iconic dish

Paraguay’s Senate is considering a bill to give sopa paraguaya its own national day, with the proposal placing traditional preparation methods at the center of the celebration.

Senators José Oviedo and Rubén Velázquez, both from the Yo Creo party, want the second Sunday of September to become National Sopa Paraguaya Day. They say the measure would promote Paraguayan culture and raise the value of a dish already recognized as the nation’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The proposed date would also serve as a tribute to Carlos Antonio López, who died on September 10, 1862. The bill recalls him as the mentor and involuntary creator of the name of Paraguay’s most emblematic traditional dish.

The proposal calls for particular attention to ancestral techniques: grinding corn by hand, cooking sopa paraguaya, and building and using the traditional clay oven known as a tatakua. Its sponsors also want to revalue Paraguay’s traditional and ancestral gastronomy.

The initiative follows the creation of a national day for vori vori, promoted by Liberal lawmaker Federico “Fredy” Franco and set for April 14. That date coincides with the dish’s international recognition after Taste Atlas named vori vori the world’s best soup and one of its best dishes. An earlier proposal had selected August 22, but the Senate changed it because that date already coincided with National Folklore Day.