An arepa is a dish made of ground corn dough or cooked flour, popular in Colombia, Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. It is similar in shape to the Salvadoran pupusa. Arepas can also be found in Panama, Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands.
Contents |
The arepa is a flat, round, unleavened patty made of cornmeal or flour which can be grilled, baked, boiled, or fried. The characteristics vary by color, flavor, size, thickness, garnishment, and the food with which it may be stuffed, depending on the region. Arepa is a native sort of bread made of ground corn (or flour), water, and salt which is fried into a pancake-like bread. It can be topped or filled with meat, eggs, tomatoes, salad, cheese, shrimp, or fish.
There are two ways to prepare the dough. The traditional, labor-intensive method requires the maize grains to be soaked, then peeled and ground in a large mortar known as a pilón. The pounding removes the pericarp and the seed germ, as only the cotyledons of the maize seed are used to make the dough. The resulting mixture, known as mortared maize, or maíz pilado, was normally sold as dry grain to be boiled and ground into dough.
The most popular method today is to buy cooked arepa cornmeal or flour. The flour is mixed with water and salt, and occasionally oil, butter, eggs, and/or milk. Because the flour is already cooked, the blend forms into patties easily. After being kneaded and formed, the patties are fried, grilled, or baked. This production of corn is unusual for not using the nixtamalization, or alkali cooking process, to remove the pericarp of the corn kernels. Arepa flour is lower in nutritive value than nixtamal, with its niacin value reduced by half.
Arepa flour is specially prepared (cooked in water, then dried) for making arepas and other maize dough-based dishes, such as hallacas, bollos, tamales, empanadas and chicha. The most popular brand names of corn flour are Harina PAN in Venezuela and Areparina in Colombia. The arepa flour is usually made from white corn, but yellow corn varieties are available. This arepa flour was first developed and produced by Empresas Polar, who owns the PAN brand and is the primary distributor in the country.
In Venezuela, various kitchen appliance companies sell appliances such as the Tostyarepa and Miallegro's MiArepa, similar to a waffle iron, which cook arepas using two hot metallic surfaces clamped with the raw dough inside. In Venezuela, the arepa is traditionally grilled on a budare, which is a flat, originally nonmetallic surface which may or may not have a handle. Arepas cooked this way are called tostadas. Nowadays, it is common to follow the grilling process that forms a crust, known as a concha, with twenty to twenty five minutes of cooking at high heat in an oven. Electric arepa makers reduce cooking time from 15 to 25 minutes per side to seven minutes or less.
Electric arepa makers are not popular in Colombia, with most households choosing to prepare them traditionally.
The predecessor of the arepa was a staple of the Timoto-cuicas, an Amerindian group that lived in the northern Andes of Venezuela. Other Amerindian tribes in the region, such as the Arawaks and the Caribs, widely consumed a form known as casabe made from cassava (yuca). With the colonization by the Spanish, the food that would become the arepa was diffused into the rest of the region, known then as La Gran Colombia (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama).
Both Colombians and Venezuelans view the arepa as a traditional national food. It has a long tradition in both countries, with local recipes that are delicious and varied.
In eastern Venezuela, the most common variety is usually about three to eight inches (7.5 to 20 cm) in diameter and about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. Larger arepas can be found, made with either white or yellow corn. In the western Andes, they are flatter, and are typically quarter of an inch (0.6 cm) or less in thickness and three to four inches in diameter. An arepa can be eaten with a filling or with a topping. A filled arepa is called an arepa rellena or a Venezuelan tostada, although the latter term is not commonly used today. Also, there are plenty of sauces to season them while eating them, such as guasacaca and picante (hot sauce).
Venezuelans prepare arepas depending on personal taste or preference and the region in which they are made. Venezuelan varieties include:
Other fillings include guacuco (a shellfish), ham, quail eggs with pink sauce, and octopus. Specialized areperas can be found across Venezuela, serving a wide array of fillings.
In Colombia, the arepa has deep roots in the colonial farms and the cuisine of the indigenous people. While its preparation was once a tedious process of processing and cooking raw corn, today, they are usually bought already prepared or made from "instant" flours.
Arepas are usually eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. Common toppings include butter, cheese, scrambled eggs, Colombian chorizo, and hogao.
In the western part of Colombia, especially around Bogotá, Cali and Medellín, a traditional breakfast includes an arepa with hot chocolate.
Companies, such as Don Maíz, have started to market new, less traditional varieties in Colombian grocery stores that are growing in popularity. These include cassava-flavored arepas (based on the more traditional pan de yuca) and whole-grain arepas made of brown rice, wheat germ and sesame seeds.
Colombia - The arepuela is similar to the traditional arepa. It is made with wheat flour and sometimes anise, and when fried, the layers expand and the arepuela inflates, similar to miniature tortillas or pancakes. This is very common in the interior of Colombia. In the north, bollos are popular for breakfast, which are made with the same dough as an arepa, but are boiled rather than fried, which gives them a texture similar to matzoh balls or Czech bread dumplings.
Costa Rica - Arepas can be made from batter, and may be similar to pancakes. There are at least two sorts, the "pancake" arepa, which is made with baking powder, and the "big flat" arepa, which is made without baking powder. These big flat arepas are, in size, not unlike the big tortillas one finds in Guanacaste (northern Costa Rica), (i.e. some twelve inches in diameter) and are made of white flour and are sugary. Once perfectly cooked, they should resemble a "giraffe skin", or a "jaguar skin" (i.e., white/yellowish with brown spots).
Mexico - Gorditas are similar fried dish, but are different from tortillas.
Puerto Rico - In Puerto Rico, arepas are made with lard, butter, flour, and baking powder. Preparation and cooking varies according to city and family tradition.
El Salvador - Pupusas are similar flat cakes, but the most important difference is the traditional dough is made from nixtamal. It is also filled before it is cooked, usually some pork, white cheese or black beans. Other stypes of pupusas are now made from of rice dough, particularly in the town called Olocuilta in the department of La Paz. There are also some newer versions of the dish based on plantain dough.
|
||||||||||||||