1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,680 Hi everyone, welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks. 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:12,520 Today I'm with José Peláez who has a gastronomic background even though he works in something 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:13,940 completely different right now. 4 00:00:13,940 --> 00:00:15,800 And we're going to talk about arepas. 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:16,800 Hi José. 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,800 Hey, hey, what's up Eric? 7 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:18,800 Thank you for the invite. 8 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:19,800 So what's the deal with arepas? 9 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:26,880 So just to put in context also, José is from Colombia and I'm from Venezuela and in both 10 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,960 countries this is a staple food, but they're quite different. 11 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,140 So what can you tell us about arepas? 12 00:00:33,140 --> 00:00:36,860 When I knew that it was going to be the topic, the first thing I thought was that of course 13 00:00:36,860 --> 00:00:40,680 its origin goes back to pre-colonial times, right? 14 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:45,800 Because corn is like the main cereal, the staple food around pre-colonial civilizations 15 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:50,600 in Central America and South America, mostly the north part of South America. 16 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,960 And it is the equivalent of like rice in Asia or wheat in Europe. 17 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:02,080 And it's been always like an important energy intake for long and intense physical work 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,080 hours, right? 19 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,080 And it is basically like our bread, right? 20 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,600 If you compare it to Europe, I would say it is like our bread. 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,240 And it's like as the Mexicans have the tortillas, the famous tortillas, in Colombia and Venezuela 22 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:20,000 we have the arepas, which are kind of similar, but they vary depending on the region and 23 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000 they have different shapes, different ingredients, different thickness and so on. 24 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,040 But it's basically like, yeah, our tortillas or our bread, I would say. 25 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:32,800 When I met you and we started to talk about the difference between arepas, I didn't know 26 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:38,560 so much about Colombian arepas and also that they're very, very different from Venezuelans 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,080 and also the way they're eaten, the fillings and everything. 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,480 So perhaps we could go through that. 29 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,160 What kind of arepas do you have in Colombia? 30 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,000 Yeah, so actually there are like several types. 31 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,800 I would say there are probably more than 15 or even 20 types of arepas that come from 32 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,080 different regions along the country. 33 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,080 But you mean like the arepa or the filling is different? 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,680 No, the arepa, the arepa, because that's something also different that mostly your arepa in Venezuela 35 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,240 I think is like always filled. 36 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,400 I don't know if it is always, but in Colombia it's not always like that. 37 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,240 It's like filled arepa is one of the types. 38 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:16,160 And there are also different types of arepa that vary according to other ingredients that 39 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,160 they use in the dough. 40 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:22,860 Okay, so they can vary according to sometimes like secondary ingredients that are available 41 00:02:22,860 --> 00:02:26,640 within, I guess, historically within those regions. 42 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:32,800 And some can have milk, egg, panela, which is this reduced raw cane sugar, juice, cheese 43 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:33,800 and other ingredients. 44 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,440 I don't know, plantain, potatoes, yuca, etc. 45 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,880 Like plantain, potatoes and yuca, I would say we don't have that in Venezuela. 46 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,080 Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's in a region, but I've never heard of that. 47 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,080 I think there should be, man, because the history of both countries is actually shared. 48 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,760 And I would say like in probably the most famous, let's say the export product from 49 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:02,680 Venezuela, which is now the Venezuelan arepa is the white corn filled arepa, right? 50 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:04,480 With different flavors that are filling. 51 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:05,480 Yeah. 52 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:10,560 But I would say there might be other types in small towns, small villages in the countryside. 53 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,620 The thing is that it is not very documented and we don't know, there's not much research 54 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:15,620 on it. 55 00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:16,620 Yeah, that's very possible. 56 00:03:16,620 --> 00:03:17,620 Yeah. 57 00:03:17,620 --> 00:03:18,620 But as I said, I've never heard of it. 58 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:21,800 So I can quickly go through the arepas that we have in Venezuela. 59 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:22,800 Yeah, sure. 60 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,280 We have like the white, the standard one. 61 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,680 As you mentioned, when it's not filled in Venezuela, we call it viuda, widow. 62 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:30,680 Okay. 63 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:31,680 The widow. 64 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:32,880 Because it has no filling. 65 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:39,400 So that's the arepas you get like bread with food, like a basket filled with widow arepas. 66 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,400 Then we have variations with the flour. 67 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,800 There is a yellow flour, like a more brown integral flour. 68 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:52,880 In the Andean region, they make arepas with wheat flour, which is basically like a bread, 69 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:53,880 you know? 70 00:03:53,880 --> 00:04:01,640 Technically it's not an arepa, but it's called like, and then we also have like a sweet one, 71 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,800 which is with star anise and that one is fried. 72 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,680 And you can get that for breakfast. 73 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,800 Like imagine having that with like a guava marmalade and fresh cheese. 74 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:12,800 Oh, nice. 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,640 I love them with the sweet combination, you know? 76 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:21,520 And I would say like arepa arepa without talking about the fillings, those are the ones I know. 77 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,360 Like I'm not a super expert, but probably like a super expert will tell me like a few 78 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:26,800 more that I didn't mention. 79 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,880 I'm not an expert either. 80 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:34,200 And actually there is this book by a Colombian chef and author is called Arepas Colombianas. 81 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,120 His name is Carlos Gaviria. 82 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:42,080 And he actually mentions in that book about 60 different preparations of arepas, right? 83 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:47,680 So and in each region there might be like a main arepa and then it has a different variations. 84 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:53,640 And I can mention also a couple of them that probably are the most famous ones. 85 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:58,780 So one of them is called the arepa paisa, which is from the, you know, the coffee farming 86 00:04:58,780 --> 00:05:03,200 region where Medellin, the city is located. 87 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:08,840 And it is the one that looks more similar to a Mexican tortilla because it is like wide 88 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:15,320 and very flat, even though it's not as thin as that you can make like a taco or handle 89 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:16,320 it like that. 90 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,280 It is, it is crunchy and hard. 91 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:21,560 And you add that one, you add the topping on top, right? 92 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,040 And you put the topping on top. 93 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:24,040 Exactly. 94 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,520 So you eat it with, usually you put cheese, like fresh salty cheese. 95 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:29,520 And that's it. 96 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,840 It's like a very basic, like a giant canapé or like a thick taco or something like that. 97 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:34,840 Yeah. 98 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:35,840 Yeah. 99 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:36,840 Yeah. 100 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:37,840 Yeah. 101 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:38,840 And it's very, very delicious. 102 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:39,840 It's super typical. 103 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:46,360 And you also can use it as a, like when you're eating a main course with meat or any other 104 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:51,600 thing, but it is very tasty with like with fresh cheese and with a cup of chocolate, 105 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,760 a hot chocolate Colombian style, which is mostly like the Southern also similar to the 106 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,600 Mexican side, which is more liquid than the one we drink in Europe. 107 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,440 And that one is very, very tasty. 108 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:08,000 And actually in Europe, you find it in the, in the Latin stores, they sell it like frozen, 109 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,840 you know, and there's other type of arepa, which is called the arepa costena or arepa 110 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:17,160 huevo, which is, I would say one of the most curious one, because if you see the, the elaboration 111 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,280 process is quite like a... 112 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:21,720 That's the one where, where you operate the arepa. 113 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:22,720 Yeah. 114 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:23,720 Yeah. 115 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:24,720 Yeah. 116 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:25,720 It goes through a surgery process indeed. 117 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:26,720 Exactly. 118 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,160 So it is like you make the dough with yellow corn and you deep fry the arepa until it 119 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:31,160 pops. 120 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,840 And it creates the cavity of steam. 121 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:38,600 And when, just when you take it out, you open it, you open a little hole in the edge in 122 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:44,280 the side with a knife and you put a raw egg inside of the arepa. 123 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,720 Then you close it again, like you press it with your fingers to close it and you deep 124 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:49,720 fry it again. 125 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,400 So the egg cooks in the inside. 126 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,400 And the, the, also the, the whole seals, I guess. 127 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:56,400 Right. 128 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:57,400 Exactly. 129 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,760 It's from the Caribbean coast in Colombia and it's actually a street, it's a street 130 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:02,760 food. 131 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,680 So you go and you, you can find this girl with her trolley right on the street, deep 132 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,180 frying the arepas and making them this surgery process. 133 00:07:11,180 --> 00:07:12,180 And they are very delicious. 134 00:07:12,180 --> 00:07:13,760 They are very delicious. 135 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,240 That's like a super sophisticated technique for a, for a traditional dish. 136 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:19,240 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 137 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:20,240 Totally. 138 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:21,240 That's super great. 139 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:26,680 That's something curious about, I would say, popular cooking in, in, it's the same thing 140 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:31,440 with, with empanadas, you know, the empanadas is something like very, it takes a lot of 141 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,760 time putting like the filling and everything with the corn dough as well. 142 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,240 And this is quite sophisticated, the operation. 143 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,920 However, it is like a very popular street food. 144 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,920 In Venezuela as well, like empanadas opposite from many empanadas in South America, more 145 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:53,280 in the South or empanadas are made with arepa flour, I guess, same as yours. 146 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,320 And you get this, it's very typical. 147 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,520 If you go to the beach that you have like this street vendors walking around with a 148 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,600 pot full of empanadas and that's a very typical way to get it. 149 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:08,440 But also like, I would say in any school canteen, you have empanadas and something like you 150 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:09,440 find anywhere. 151 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,880 Yeah, same, same, same in Colombia, same in Colombia. 152 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:18,320 And I would say both arepas and empanadas are like the popular dish for, I don't know, 153 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:19,320 everywhere. 154 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:24,000 You mentioned the street vendors for the arepa de huevo, but what are the, the places and 155 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,160 moments of consumption in Colombia? 156 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:32,120 As I mentioned, the most common moment to have the arepa is for breakfast. 157 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,840 And it's also my favorite moment to have an arepa. 158 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:42,400 But the, but the places to mention a couple, like traditional style, very traditional popular 159 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:47,500 style is in, in the beach, by the beach in the Caribbean, you will find throughout the 160 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:53,920 whole day, a couple spots or a couple persons with their like trolleys and this umbrella 161 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,640 to go from the sun and frying the arepas and making them. 162 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,160 So it's like a to go arepa, you know, like you pass by and you buy it and you keep going, 163 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:02,880 you go to the beach or whatever you're doing. 164 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:07,960 Or for the local people, if they are working, they can have it mostly anytime, right? 165 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,400 But most of the people would buy it for breakfast, I would say. 166 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:18,080 However, there's also in the, in other sites of the country, like inland around like public 167 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:23,080 fairs, festivals, and these kinds of popular celebrations. 168 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:29,600 There are also people with small spots with the ember, you know, like charcoal ember and 169 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:31,480 cooking arepas on them. 170 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:32,480 Okay. 171 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,360 Other types, of course, this would be like probably an arepa paisa or an arepa from my 172 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,920 region, but it is with charcoal. 173 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:44,160 So you always have in mind that image of this lady with a manual fan on one hand, you know, 174 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,280 like moving it, keeping the ember alive and like in the, in the perfect spot. 175 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:52,520 And on the other hand, controlling the things that is on top, including the arepas, you 176 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:53,520 know. 177 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,680 That's curious, like in Venezuela, it's kind of different. 178 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:00,320 I would say when it's about street vendors that you find like whatever in the street 179 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:05,560 or as you say, in some kind of festival, it's usually, it's like, you know, like very street 180 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:10,240 food wise is usually arepas that are already cooked, probably brought from home. 181 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,000 And it's like a very simple sandwich. 182 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,520 It's nothing crazy, just the filling and that's it. 183 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,600 That's like the most street food style. 184 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,600 But then we have like areperas, which are like specialized restaurants on arepas. 185 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:23,280 And that's like a big thing. 186 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:28,080 As you mentioned, the most common moment is for breakfast, but it's also super common 187 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,600 to go to an arepera in the middle of- 188 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:31,600 For dinner. 189 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:32,600 Or the meat. 190 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,800 Like for munchies, like 3 a.m. after- 191 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,160 Yeah, that's true. 192 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,120 Super drunk and then you go to an arepera. 193 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:44,160 I would say like nowadays that's also typical in Colombia. 194 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,000 Probably not as popular as in Venezuela, I would say, but there are also like restaurant 195 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:54,480 chains that are like for filled arepas with different types of fillings. 196 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,920 Exactly, like in the areperas, that's the thing is that you go there and there are like 197 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,120 these vitrines with very different fillings that you pick whatever you want. 198 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:09,320 And the arepas from areperas are usually not always like different from the ones you eat 199 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,920 at home or at a restaurant. 200 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:12,920 They're much bigger. 201 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,200 They're almost like the diameter is like a burger. 202 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,320 Like a burger size, exactly. 203 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:20,960 And the fillings are more sophisticated. 204 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,640 And this is usually where you get like this famous like the reina pepia, which is- 205 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:29,840 Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because I like about the Venezuelan arepas that the 206 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,400 fillings are like have a name. 207 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,200 So yeah, tell me a little bit about it. 208 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,280 Yeah, reina pepia is my favorite and of many people. 209 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:44,080 The story is somebody invented this like in the 50s and they named it after a beauty queen, 210 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,480 like Miss Venezuela. 211 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:51,120 Apparently, her nickname was the reina pepia, so they baptized this arepa after it. 212 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,600 And basically it's boiled chicken and then you make like this kind of Olivier salad, 213 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:03,120 just to describe it a little bit, but this avocado, mayo and a splash of Worcestershire. 214 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:04,120 That's it. 215 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:05,920 And man, that's so good. 216 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:06,920 That's delicious. 217 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:12,640 Yeah, I must say that here, even though I'm Colombian, I love making reina pepia also 218 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,520 because my girlfriend likes it very much. 219 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:22,080 And how I do it is I boil the chicken breasts and I put a couple of bay leaves and pepper 220 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,040 in the water and then shred it and do it exactly as you mentioned. 221 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,840 The thing is that here in, it's not that easy to find good avocados as you know. 222 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:31,840 Yeah. 223 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:32,840 But when you're lucky, yeah. 224 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,120 And we like to do it with handmade mayo. 225 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:36,120 Okay. 226 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:40,520 The way I've been doing it lately, I've been found in like the supermarket that they sell 227 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,120 the chicken breasts vacuum packed. 228 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,120 Okay. 229 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:49,440 And I cook it sous vide and then, so I get like the perfect cooking point for the chicken 230 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:54,720 so that it's still super juicy and it releases a lot of like chicken stock, you know? 231 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,240 And I add the whole thing to the mixture and it's amazing. 232 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,240 Wow. 233 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:00,240 Sounds delicious. 234 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,240 I'm hungry now, man. 235 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,120 And you know, one tip that I learned and I've been using it and it's good. 236 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,840 It's like you put the water to boil with the chicken breasts, right? 237 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,320 And the salt or whatever you want to add. 238 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:15,200 And when it boils, you turn it off, you put the lid on and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, 239 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,920 depending on the site, like turned off. 240 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,800 And it gets this, it's not exactly the sous vide effect. 241 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,200 It keeps the breast juicy. 242 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,720 And when you cool it down and shred it, of course the texture is, it's nice to chew. 243 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:32,000 It's not like sandy in your mouth when a chicken breast is overcooked, but it's very on the 244 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:33,000 right point. 245 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,120 What I also do when I do that, when I cook it in a pot with water and everything, once 246 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:42,360 I don't add so much salt and the reason is when I take the chicken breast, exactly. 247 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:47,640 I reduce it until it's like a, and I add that to the mixture as well. 248 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:48,640 Delicious. 249 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,160 Then we have another one that it's called La Peluda, the hairy one. 250 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,360 That's black beans with Gouda cheese. 251 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:56,360 Oh yes. 252 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:57,360 Wait, what? 253 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:58,360 Gouda cheese. 254 00:13:58,360 --> 00:13:59,360 No, sorry, sorry. 255 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:00,360 I'm wrong. 256 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:01,360 Sorry. 257 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:02,360 La Peluda is carne mechada. 258 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:03,360 Okay. 259 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:04,360 Okay. 260 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:05,360 Okay. 261 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:11,560 And there is another one called Domino, which is black beans with white shredded cheese. 262 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:12,560 Oh, okay. 263 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:13,560 Okay. 264 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:14,560 I've tried that one as well and I like it. 265 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:15,840 I like it very much. 266 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:16,840 Yes. 267 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:22,840 There is also in Colombia, like the other two that are famous is the arepagoyacense, 268 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:28,320 which is made with sweet corn and filled with fresh, a fresh cheese that is called cuajada. 269 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:37,000 That kind of, it's kind of a powder, not exactly a powder, but when you put a fork or something 270 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:42,800 on it, it goes apart very easily, the cheese and it's very tasty. 271 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,480 And there's one that is one of my favorite that is called Arepa Santanderiana from the 272 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:47,640 Northern region. 273 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:52,520 Actually part of Santander is on the limit with Venezuela and this arepa is very, very 274 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,280 crunchy made with peeled yellow corn. 275 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,880 And sometimes they add in the dough, like super crunchy pork chicharrón. 276 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:01,880 Chicharrón. 277 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:02,880 Yes. 278 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:03,880 I've seen that. 279 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:04,880 Yeah. 280 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:05,880 Super crunchy. 281 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:06,880 And sometimes they also add pork fat in the dough. 282 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:07,880 Yeah. 283 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:08,880 So imagine that taste. 284 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:09,880 Yeah. 285 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:10,880 That's genius. 286 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:11,880 Yeah. 287 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:12,880 It's delicious. 288 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:13,880 Arepa Santanderiana is one of the best. 289 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:14,880 Yeah. 290 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:15,880 I think. 291 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,680 Well, if you mentioned that this is near the border from Venezuela, probably there's also 292 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:20,680 a dialogue. 293 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:21,680 Yeah, definitely. 294 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,840 And so we have one in common and I think it's the one that is almost the same, but with 295 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,160 a different name is the cachapa, which may be for you. 296 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:35,680 I don't know if you consider that an arepa, but we call it arepa because we call it arepa 297 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:36,680 choclo. 298 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:37,680 Okay. 299 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:38,680 Yeah. 300 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:39,680 For us it's cachapa. 301 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:40,680 Yeah. 302 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:48,400 And actually, well, to explain cachapa is like, I would describe it as a yellow corn pancake. 303 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:49,400 Sweet corn, like tender. 304 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:50,400 Yeah. 305 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:51,400 Yeah. 306 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,600 And it's usually made like on, how do you say plancha? 307 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:55,600 Like real? 308 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:56,600 Yeah. 309 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,600 Very big, like big as a plate. 310 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,720 And in Venezuela, we usually eat it with fresh cheese. 311 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,600 Of course, that's the most basic one. 312 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,400 There are of course, modern variations with a lot of stuff and sauces and. 313 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:09,400 Yeah. 314 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:14,160 Our basic arepa choclo is also like that, it's with fresh cheese. 315 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:19,880 And I would say that's my favorite arepa, even though it's not the one I eat more often, 316 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,280 that is my favorite, like a good arepa choclo. 317 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:24,280 I love it. 318 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,160 And I love because it is very fatty. 319 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,520 It has a lot of butter in it. 320 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:32,680 And sometimes some variations add like panela within the dough as well. 321 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:38,360 I've personally cooked it before with adding panela because I like this, like add a little 322 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:44,800 bit more sweetness on top of the sweet corn that you're already using in the preparation. 323 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:46,120 And it's very, very delicious. 324 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,120 Definitely. 325 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:48,120 Yeah. 326 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,960 There's a place in Margarita Island called El Cimarron, and that's a place you go only 327 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,760 to eat cachapas where they grind the corn in front of you. 328 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:03,680 And you usually pair it with coca, which is kind of like a coconut milkshake we have. 329 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:04,680 And that's a. 330 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,200 It's a coconut milkshake, the coca. 331 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:08,640 Yeah, it's not drink. 332 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:09,640 Yeah. 333 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:10,640 Like interesting. 334 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:11,640 Yeah. 335 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,160 Like the cocoa pulp, you blend it with the cocoa water. 336 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:16,160 OK. 337 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:21,600 Yeah, so you have like this more like a smoothie because they add ice to it. 338 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:22,600 So you have like this frappe. 339 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:23,600 Like a frappe. 340 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:24,600 Yeah, exactly. 341 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,600 And then usually people add like a little bit of cinnamon on top. 342 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:29,600 And that's it. 343 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:30,600 Oh, nice. 344 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:31,600 Yeah, it's super nice. 345 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:32,600 It must taste good. 346 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,640 It's curious because what we call coca is something different. 347 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:41,680 It's like a popular sweet from the coastal areas made out of coconut and sugar. 348 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,720 Like a candy. 349 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:44,720 OK. 350 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:45,720 It's a candy. 351 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:47,480 Yeah, we have it's like brown. 352 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:48,480 Yes. 353 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:49,480 Yes. 354 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:50,480 We have that too. 355 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:51,480 We call it conserva de coco. 356 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:52,480 OK, cool. 357 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:53,480 Yeah. 358 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,440 And that usually you see like ladies selling it in the beach. 359 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,920 And what's your actually I also told you my favorite. 360 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,560 My favorite is that the arepa choclo. 361 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:01,560 What's yours? 362 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:06,640 Well, just to mention arepas that we have mentioned because I would say reina pepeada, 363 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:07,640 of course. 364 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:12,520 But and also to mention nice places like in Venezuela, there is like this huge market 365 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:13,520 called Quinta Crespo. 366 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:19,440 It's a market where where, you know, like restaurants go to to get supplies like on 367 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:20,440 big sizes. 368 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:26,040 But also you can go as a normal person to get like good produce, good fish. 369 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:27,040 It's a big, big market. 370 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,760 And inside that market is a place called El Castillito. 371 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:32,520 And for me, it was always a ritual. 372 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,480 We would go to the market very, very early. 373 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:40,200 Like in some places I worked that I was helping with the supplies and they had two arepas 374 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,800 that are non-traditional at all. 375 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,560 I found these arepas in that place. 376 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,840 And one was like a chicharron arepa, but not as you would expect. 377 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,120 This chicharron was stewed. 378 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:52,440 It was like a chicharron stew. 379 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:53,440 Ah, yeah. 380 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,160 So it was soft like it was soft, not crunchy at all. 381 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:57,160 Yeah, exactly. 382 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,520 So you have like this imagine like kind of like a pork belly, bow, something like in 383 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:02,520 that direction. 384 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:04,520 It was like a Latin swing, you know. 385 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:05,520 OK. 386 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,880 And then we have another one they had that was also stewed. 387 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,920 I would go both every time. 388 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,000 The other one was a cut fish arepa. 389 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,480 Also super, super nice. 390 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:15,480 Yeah. 391 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,520 I haven't tried arepa with fish ever before. 392 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:20,160 Actually, that's new to me. 393 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:25,840 Well, in Venezuela also, like in these places that you go at 3 a.m. to get an arepa, you 394 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,440 get to see very crazy things, you know, like drunk people getting food. 395 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:36,360 You get this people like, yeah, put those quail eggs with mayo, with the octopus inside 396 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:37,800 of the arepa. 397 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:44,440 I think that's that that style is very, very nice that like you have a bar with different 398 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,880 options to fill it and you choose like put this and that and that. 399 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:48,880 We don't have that style. 400 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:54,200 Actually, when we go to arepa, besides those that I told you from these little trolleys 401 00:19:54,200 --> 00:20:00,960 outside the fairs, those arepa are like arepa rellena, which is like filled arepa. 402 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,680 But there are very basic feelings, like three basics that you can mix. 403 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:10,080 So one is crunchy chicharrón, one is the one is the ropa vieja, the shredded meat, 404 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,440 and one is the shredded chicken. 405 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:18,640 And they all put like this base sauce that is very typical in Colombia called ogao, which 406 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,260 is like a like an onion and tomatoes stir fry. 407 00:20:23,260 --> 00:20:29,360 And some people put garlic, some people put cumin on it. 408 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:35,200 And there is this sauce, which is like a basic sauce you find on every table in a popular 409 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:36,480 cafeteria. 410 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,120 You put it also on the arepas. 411 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:39,120 Yeah, yeah. 412 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:43,000 We have we usually have like two sauces that you will find in any arepa. 413 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:44,000 We have guasacaca. 414 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:45,000 Ah, the guasacaca. 415 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,000 Yeah, I like that one. 416 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,000 Yeah, and hot sauce. 417 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:53,120 Like any kind of mojo that is so spicy, you will find the variations of that anywhere. 418 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:54,960 Yeah, nice, nice, nice. 419 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,080 So when was the last time you ate arepa? 420 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:58,080 Can you remember? 421 00:20:58,080 --> 00:20:59,840 No, no, not really. 422 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,880 Like like a long time ago. 423 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:02,880 I can't tell. 424 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:03,880 Yeah, probably. 425 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,160 Last time I was in Barcelona. 426 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:06,520 Yeah, I went there. 427 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,480 Yeah, there is this place. 428 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,960 Oh, man, I forgot. 429 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:15,800 La Poderosa is a place. 430 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,320 Yeah, like in Raval. 431 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:26,360 And they were doing arepas and empanadas margarita style, which is like a specific type of empanadas 432 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:31,560 and arepas, and I remember going there and really have like a mine teleportation to 433 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,160 a beach and margarita. 434 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:34,160 Wow, nice. 435 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:35,160 That's nice. 436 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:36,160 That's nice. 437 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,680 Actually, talking about that transportation, because I would say that to us arepas is something 438 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:41,680 very symbolic. 439 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:46,960 It's kind of a ritual that brings you back to childhood, brings you back to your origins. 440 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:53,600 So last time I ate was last week because I had my cousins visiting at my place. 441 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,200 One of them lives in London, another one in Paris. 442 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:02,440 So since we're getting together for a way to remember, it's like we I cooked arepas 443 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:03,440 for breakfast. 444 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:04,800 You know, I made the dough and everything. 445 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:10,640 And yeah, it's very nice to bring that because that brings you back to childhood and very 446 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,440 nice moments in the in the past. 447 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:13,440 Yeah. 448 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,120 And also something I wanted to mention in these areperas, it's very common to have like fruit 449 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:24,880 juices as a as a pairing for your arepa, like mango juice or papaya juice or guava juice, 450 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,200 this kind of uses. 451 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:32,680 And then also another arepa I forgot to mention that really reminds me of my childhood, like 452 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,120 in the very west of Venezuela. 453 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,240 And they do this arepas where you add, we call it suero. 454 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:40,240 It's like a sour cream. 455 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,240 It's like a sour cream. 456 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:42,240 It's exactly like that. 457 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:43,240 Yeah, it's fermented cream. 458 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:44,240 I love that. 459 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,240 I love that. 460 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,360 The combination is so nice. 461 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,080 Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. 462 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:54,880 And also something I wanted to ask you, like the way I've known arepas and I have to say 463 00:22:54,880 --> 00:23:00,320 that in my house being having European parents, it was not a staple food. 464 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,000 It was something we would do once in a while. 465 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,560 My connection with arepas was more like in school canteens or restaurants or this kind 466 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,960 of stuff or when I was at friends and these kind of things. 467 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:16,480 In Venezuela, I would say by default, if you do arepas, you will do it with the arena or 468 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,440 the pre-cooked corn flour. 469 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,280 And that's something that I know that was invented in Venezuela. 470 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:28,600 And then it was like spread in the different arepa eating countries. 471 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:35,720 But you've told me one that you also do, you'll see very commonly freshly ground. 472 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:36,720 Yeah, milk. 473 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:44,720 Actually, these small trolleys and spots like street vendors that I told you, I would say 474 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:53,000 that many of them do the dough with cooked and milled, like processed manually. 475 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:59,680 It's like a manual machine that you spin this handle. 476 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,800 Like this manual or manual milk grinder or something like that. 477 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:08,360 It's like a grinder and you spill with one hand rotating it and you put the cooked corn 478 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:09,360 on top of it. 479 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:15,440 And on the bottom, there is this like processed corn coming out. 480 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,360 And that is already the dough, the arepa dough. 481 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:23,920 You see that with cachapas, like this place I mentioned in Margarita, they have like this 482 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,920 like electric machines where they do exactly that with yellow corn and then you do the 483 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:29,920 cachapa like that. 484 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:30,920 Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. 485 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:37,280 And I would say nowadays you also find the corn flour, like precooked corn flour and 486 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,760 the way I prepare them at home because I do quite often is like that. 487 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:46,840 Of course, I don't have the time or the space to cook the corn. 488 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,160 First of all, I will have to get the corn. 489 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:55,440 So yeah, logistics are difficult, but people at homes, they also use precooked corn flour. 490 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,520 So yes. 491 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,560 That's it for this week's episode of potluck food talks. 492 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,440 If you like what we're doing, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss 493 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:08,680 an episode. 494 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,680 You can also find us on Instagram and Tik Tok as potluck food talks. 495 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:31,080 The show airs every Monday.