Small, naturally gluten-free cheese breads from Bolivia's eastern lowlands, made with sweet cassava (yuca) starch, plenty of fresh white cheese, eggs and a little butter and milk. Crisp and golden outside, chewy and molten-cheesy within, they are a beloved breakfast and afternoon teatime snack across the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando.
Originated among the Guaraní of Bolivia's eastern lowlands, where cassava has long been a staple, and now a fixture of Santa Cruz street food and breakfast tables. The Guaraní name is usually read as cuñá (woman) + pé (breast) — 'woman's breast,' for the rounded shape — though some trace it instead to the Chiriguano Guaraní word for 'bread.'
A thin, crackly golden shell gives way to a stretchy, salty-cheesy interior that pulls in soft threads. Chewy and a little springy from the cassava starch, with a savory tang from the fresh cheese. Warm from the oven, they are dangerously snackable.
Cassava starch lacks gluten but gelatinizes into a chewy, elastic crumb when baked, while steam from the cheese and eggs puffs the dough. The cheese melts into the matrix, giving both flavor and the signature stretchy pull.
Variations
Cuñapé frito (fried), cuñapé abizcochado (twice-baked and drier), versions with extra cheese for a softer center.
On the Palate
Where Cuñapé sits in the Bolivian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Finely grate or crumble the fresh cheese into a large mixing bowl.
- 24 min
Add the cassava starch and a pinch of salt and rub together until crumbly.
- 35 min
Beat in the eggs and softened butter to bring the dough together.
- 43 min
Add a splash of milk if needed so the dough is soft but holds its shape.
- 58 min
Roll the dough into small balls or short ovals and place on a lined baking tray.
- 622 min
Bake in a hot oven until puffed, golden and crisp on the outside.
Watch outBake until they puff and the outside is golden and crisp — the shell firms up while the cheesy inside stays soft.
- 73 min
Cool just briefly so the cheesy centers stay soft and stretchy.
Watch outEat them while barely cooled — the melted cheese centre pulls into stretchy strands hot and goes rubbery once cold.
- 82 min
Serve warm with afternoon coffee, tea or fruit juice.
