Arepa (dough made with ground corn)

To speak of arepa is to speak of Venezuela ... part of our culture and the daily table, it is our most indigenous culinary expression, it is the benefactor of our daily bread.

Arepa is a national expression and can be found in any city in Venezuela and in many countries in Latin America. Its preparation goes back to our indigenous ancestors, who planted, collected and processed corn. It is the result of a dough made of boiled and ground corn, the natives, ground it between two smooth and flat stones and then created balls that roasted in a "aripo", (a kind of slightly curved dish made of clay, which is used for cooking, we also know a variation of this as “budare”) from the name of this utensil derives from the word “arepa”, nowadays iron and grill dishes are used to roast the arepitas at home or in restaurants, although you can still find the clay aripó.

The arepa is a loyal companion of the Venezuelan and can be found at the noblest table, as well as at the most humble, in any corner of the city, or in the smallest villages, in restaurants and houses, or in the abundant sand banks of different Venezuelan cities.

Arepa is the queen of our breakfasts and at the same time an excellent companion for first courses at lunch and dinner, it is a faithful companion of our national dishes.

The arepa is presented with different characteristics in different regions of the country, but in essence it is the same and unique arepa. The very finite ones are called “telitas” and are typical of the Andean region, the gorditas and abombaditas are used to prepare in the central region; large ones, whether fried or roasted, are often found in the East. Arehar de chicharrón, and sweet arepitas are prepared with a slight flavor of fennel, arepas "peeled" with ash, which are found mainly in the west of the country.

They are usually eaten stuffed with cheese and butter, shredded or roasted meat, with ham or almost anything imaginable. A freshly roasted arepa stuffed with a llanero de apure cheese or a juicy guayanés cheese, glorifies the taste of those who taste it; Accompanied by buttermilk, a parakeet that Venezuelans like so much, or fried beans and shredded meat, you have a wonderfully typical breakfast.

From the same dough from which the arepas are obtained, we discover that other typical Venezuelan dishes are obtained, such as dumplings: dumplings boiled in very hot water, which are usually eaten for breakfast with cheese and butter. the Hallaquites: rolls covered with corn straw and boiled in very hot water; the hairy buns: dough rolls stuffed with boiled or fried meat; The empanadas are made, stuffed with meat, chicken or fish cheese stews, etc., and fried in a lot of hot oil.

This dough is used in the preparation of various snacks and snacks, balls, empanadites, rolls and small arepitas. is added in the form of balls to some soups. the corn dough colored with onoto and flavored when mashed with chicken broth, is the first to show its bright colors when we open one of our most requested culinary delights: Hallaca; the dough is spread over banana leaves as a bed and houses all the wonderful components that make up the Halca filling ... it is also the main component of the creole polenta. The mass obtained from corn has numerous uses, but definitely the queen of all is the arepa.