Triple Frontier · Paraguayan-Arab Kibbeh
Kepi (Kibbeh)
🧆
Photo coming soon
Locals in Ciudad del Este use the Paraguayan-Arabic term 'kepi' rather than 'kibbeh,' a small linguistic fingerprint of how deeply the Lebanese and Syrian community has folded into the city's food vocabulary.
A shell of bulgur wheat and ground beef is stuffed with spiced meat and fried or baked into small torpedo-shaped croquettes. Street stalls and Arab-run eateries around Ciudad del Este sell them as a quick snack alongside pita and hummus.
Why it's made this way: Alto Paraná's Ciudad del Este, part of the Triple Frontier with Brazil and Argentina, has one of Paraguay's largest Lebanese and Syrian immigrant communities, who brought kibbeh into the city's street food scene.
More from Paraguay
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.