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The 'arepa' is a corn-based bread from the northern Andes in South America, now spread to other areas in modern Latin American countries. Colombian and Venezuelan migration to the U.S.A. and elsewhere has made arepas available almost worldwide.

Contents

Characteristics

Making arepas

Electric arepa makers

Arepa types

History

Colombian arepas

Flavored arepas

Plain arepas

Similar foods

References

Characteristics

The arepa basically a flat breaded cake which is then grilled, baked, or fried. The characteristics of the arepa vary with local culture. For example, the size and flatness are variable: in Oriental Venezuela besides the most common variety of 3 to 5 inches in diameter and half an inch thick, you can find enormous arepas of 8 inches in diameter and two inches thick made indistinctevy with white or yellow corn, but in the Andean West you may find really flat arepas of a quarter of an inch or less and 3 to 4 inches in diameter. It is often eaten as a sandwich, split in half and filled with cheese, deli meats, and a great variety of fillings, in which case it is know as 'arepa rellena' or dressed with toppings and eaten open-faced. This (arepa rellena) is the most frequent form it adopts in Venezuela, whereas in Colombia it is still eaten unadorned (or just with butter or cheese spread on top, occasionally as a filling), mainly as the regional form of bread. On the Caribbean coast of South America, the cornmeal cake is often deep-fried and, in one variation, where a raw egg is added midway through the frying process, it becomes the 'arepa'e huevo'. This latter variation was most likely devised by the African slaves near Cartagena de Indias.

Making arepas

There are two ways to make the dough: the original, highly laborious method requires the maize grains to be soaked, then they are peeled and grounded, this is done by pounding the grains in a larger mortar (pilón) to remove the pericarp and the seed germ, only the cotiledons of the maize seed are used to make the dough, this product (mortared maize or "maíz pilado") was normally sold as dry grain which were then boiled and grounded into the dough. The second, easier, and most popular method today is to buy pre-cooked corn in a dry flour form, specially prepared for making arepa and many other maize based dough dishes (hallacas, bollos, tamales, empanadas, chicha, etc.). The most popular brand name of corn flour in Venezuela is Harina Pan, and in Colombia is Areparina; it's usually made from white corn but there are yellow corn varieties available. This product was developed (invented) by Dr. Caballero Mejias in the 1950s, a Venezuelan engineer who didn't want to profit from his patent and used its income to finance the Technical Schools system where juveniles would do a technical oriented high school learning a working skill. The precooked form was widely industrialized from there. The flour is mixed with water and salt (some people add oil, eggs and/or milk). After being molded by hand, or in a special template, into a patty, the dough is fried, grilled or baked. This production of maize is unusual for not using the nixtamalization or alkali cooking process to remove the pericarp. Arepa flour is lower in nutritive value than nixtamal with protein value reduced by 50% though protein digestion may be higher.

Electric arepa makers

In some countries, like Venezuela, various kitchen appliances's companies, such as Oster and Black & Decker, created an electric device (called Tostyarepa), very similar to a waffle iron, that cooks this corn cake using two hot metallic surfaces placed one over the other so it can be closed with the raw dough inside. Traditionally, the arepa is grilled on a "budare" and is named as a "tostada" (toasted). Normally an arepa takes fifteen to 25 minutes by side to be prepared in a regular grill, now with this appliance making arepas takes about seven minutes or less.

Arepa types

Their preparation depends on two main factors: one is the personal taste or preference of each individual; the second is the region in which they are made. The result is a wide variety of arepa types:

★ Typical corn arepa.

★ Corn flour arepa (''Arepa blanca or Viuda'')

★ Wheat flour arepa (''Preñaditas'' in Venezuelan slang)

★ Sweet arepa (''Arepa dulce'')

★ Cheese arepa (''Arepa de queso'')

★ Coconut arepa (''Arepa de coco'')

★ Andean arepa (''Arepa andina'')

★ Mandioc arepa (''Arepa de yuca'')

★ ''Reina Pepeada'' - filled with avocado, chicken, potatoes, carrots, and mayonnaise

★ Baked arepas (''Arepas horneadas'')

★ Fried arepas (''Arepa frita'')

★ ''Arepa pelúa'' - with yellow cheese and pulled beef

★ ''Arepa catira'' - with yellow cheese and chicken

★ ''Arepa de chicharrón'' - arepa with crisped pork skin

★ ''Arepa de dominó'' - white cheese and black beans

★ ''Arepa de Perico'' - made with perico, a Caribbean type of scrambled eggs

★ ''Arepa viuda'' ("widow" arepa) - an empty arepa usually eaten with soup
Other fillings are ''guacuco'' (a shellfish), ''cazón'' (a kind of small shark), ''pernil'' (pork), ''Huevos de codorniz'' (Quail eggs), and octopus.

History

The arepa was the corn bread of the Timoto-cuicas native American nation that lived in the northern Andean mountains of Venezuela who learned how to grow maize from the Quechuas (Peru) and Mayas (Mexico) where the crop was originally from. The larger native American nations of Venezuela (Arawaks in the central plains and Caribes in the East and in the rain forests, from Argentina to the Islands named from them widely used the form of bread called Casabe, made from Yuca roots. With the colonization process the maize (corn) bread was widely spread throughout the country and into Colombia, then named Nueva Granada or Santa Fe.
Both Colombians and Venezuelans claim the arepa as a typical food. The arepa has a long tradition in both countries with local recipes that are very delicious and varied.

Colombian arepas

In Colombia, the arepa has deep roots in the colonial farms and in the cuisine of the indigenous people. In modern times the tradition has not yet been forgotten although arepas are prepared less frequently at home and more often manufactured and sold in stores.
Colombians typically spread butter or cheese on the top. However, there are specialty arepas:

Flavored arepas

★ Arepa de Choclo (or Chocolo): being the most famous; made with sweet corn and farmers white cheese.

★ Egg arepa (called Arepa de Huevo or, in the vernacular dialect, "Arepa'e Huevo"): originating from the Caribbean coast but a popular street food in most cities, this arepa is deep fried with a single raw egg inside that is cooked through by the time the arepa is ready. Egg arepas are made with the same yellow corn dough and deep-fried in the same manner as most Colombian empanadas, and are often sold from the same food stands. One variation has shredded beef inside along with the egg.

★ Cheese arepa (''arepa de queso''): Another variety with grated cheese is placed inside the cake before it is grilled or fried.

★ Arepa Boyacence: Typical in the department of Boyacá, these arepas are very hard and dense, about 3-4 inches across and filled with a sweet cheese.
Companies like "Don Maíz" have begun to market less-traditional kinds of arepas in Colombian grocery stores that are nonetheless growing in popularity. These include yuca -flavored arepas (yuca bread is more traditional) and arepas made of brown rice and sesame seeds.
While less popular than in Venezuela, sandwich-like filled arepas are sold throughout Colombia as well.

Plain arepas

★ Antioquian arepa: little arepa without salt served to accompany soups and ''mondongo'' soups. Very common in the department of Antioquia.

★ Arepa Paisa: Very large and flat arepa made of white maize without salt but accompanied with meats or butter on top of it. Very common in the coffee-producing region, often served with hogao, a traditional sauce of tomatoes and spring onions.

★ Arepa de arroz: Made with cooked, mashed rice instead of corn dough.
In the western part of Colombia, especially around Bogotá and Medellín, a typical breakfast includes one portion of arepa, normally complemented with hot chocolate.

Similar foods

In Colombia, the ''Arepuela'' is a far cousin of the traditional arepa; made with wheat flour and optionally anis so when fried the layers expand and the ''arepuela'' inflates (similar to little tortillas or little pancakes). Very common in the interior. In the north, ''bollos'' are popular for breakfast - these are made with the same dough as an arepa, but boiled rather than fried and given a texture similar to Czech bread dumplings.
In Costa Rica, arepas are made from batter, and are similar to pancakes, with slight differences in taste. In Mexico there is some food similar that are fried and called gordita not to be confused with tortillas. In El Salvador, similar flat cakes are called pupusas.

References

★ Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations. Maize in Human Nutrition

★ Dr. Nelson Solorzano, specialist in food and nutrition and in Caribbean Region Culture. Socio-economic Development Planner specialized in Latin American Socio-economic Development History, Agriculture and Culture. (CENDES-UCV), USA, May,2007