Arepas

submitted by Ward_Williams

Ward Williams
Caracas, Venezuela


Venezuelan Foods

The ingredients necessary to make traditional Venezuelan foods may be very
difficult to find in the United States. Much of it contains roots, such as
yuca, or a type of sweet potato (called batata) and a whole variety of
other things that I have never seen in the U.S. The ever-popular *arepa*
is made with ground, cooked white corn meal, which may be impossible to
find. As you can see, this could be a challenge. (When we lived in
Connecticut, we had to go to the Cuban section of Hartford in order to
find plantain bananas and black beans.)

Arepa (Corn Cakes)

The *arepa* (ah-ray-pah; with the accent on the middle syllable) is the
local equivalent of a hamburger and is sold in shops called an *arepera*
(ah-ray-pay-rah; with the accent on the third syllable). The arepas are
cooked fresh. The buyer looks in a cafeteria type hot table to choose the
filling s/he desires. Fillings include shredded cheese, stringy meat
cooked in spices, chicken salad with avacado, egg scrambled with onion and
green peppers, diced sausage, and a variety of other things. Perhaps the
most popular filling is grated American cheese (the one that has a cheddar
flavor and is somewhat soft). The arepa is split open like a hamburger
bun (by the person behind the counter), some of the steaming moist corn
meal is scooped out and discarded, and the filling is added. The arepa is
wrapped in a square of slick paper, like butcher paper, and handed to the
purchaser to eat standing up. Arepas are also made smaller and served in
the bread basket at restaurants.

An arepa may be cooked three different ways. Boiled in water, baked in the
oven, or fried in hot oil. In the country they are often cooked on a
charcoal grill. Most often they are browned on the outside by cooking
briefly on a hot griddle, and then placed in the oven (400 degrees) for 15
minutes. (Remember: the corn meal that is used is pre-cooked, so the
*cooking* process is only to give the arepa some color and to make it
hot.) The arepa is *done* when it sounds hollow when tapped.

How to make an arepa

Take a cup of finely ground, pre-cooked, corn meal (white is preferable,
but yellow is also used), add an equal amount of water, a dash of salt and
a teaspoon of cooking oil. Kneed the mixture with your hands until it is
thoroughly blended into a dough.

Take a small amount of the dough and pat it into a flat, round cake, about
the size of the palm of your hand, or slightly smaller. It should be about
a quarter of an inch thick. Shape and press it around the edges to make it
even and smooth. Continue making more cakes until the dough is used up.

Grease a heavy skillet or griddle and place it over a low flame. It should
not be too hot. When the surface is hot place the cakes, one or two at a
time, on the griddle to brown on both sides. Put them in the oven to bake
for about 15 minutes. (You may also fry them, turning once, in about a
quarter inch of hot oil.)

TO SERVE: Slice the arepa like a hamburger bun, discard some of the
steaming meal that is still soft in the middle, fill with choice of
filling, close the arepa and serve immediately. Alternate method: make
small arepas about the size of a silver dollar and fry in oil until golden
brown on both sides. Serve as bread with a meal. Have butter and cheese
available.



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