I am so happy and joyful that my life is full of fantastic, wonderful, interesting and positive people. People who come from all over the world, people who open up their homes and heart to me and my eating (and blogging) activities. I was lucky enough to be invited to my friend Mabel’s house for making arepas last weekend. If you have never had an arepa before, let me tell you, these puppies are smoking’ hot tasty. Seriously. Good. Food.
Arepas are round shaped bun like breads made of corn (and sometimes other grains, fruits or starches) and popularly served in Colombia and Venezuela although available in other parts of Latin America. Arepas are pan fried, then split open and stuffed with a variety of fillings.
There are many different fillings for arepas. Here is a list of some of the more popular fillings for Venezuelan arepas (in Spanish and English) as noted by Wikipedia :
* Traditional corn (Maize) arepa-plain
* 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)
* Manioc arepa (Arepa de yuca)
* Reina Pepeada – filled with avocado, chicken, and mayonnaise
* Baked arepas (Arepas horneadas)
* Fried arepas (Arepa frita)
* Arepa pelúa – with yellow cheese and pulled beef
* Arepa con queso guayanés – with soft Guayanés cheese, similar to mozzarella
* Arepa con queso de mano – with firm white cheese from eastern Venezuela
* Arepa catira – with yellow cheese and shredded chicken
* Arepa de chicharrón – 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
* Arepa Rumbera(“Party” arepa)- with pork meat
* Arepa Llanera – with cuts of beef (Parrilla or BBQ), tomato slices, avocado slices and fresh white cheese
* Arepa con cazón – with shark
More on Arepas from Venezuelan Food and Drinks-
Arepa Recipe-How to With Photos
More on Arepas via CHOW
My Arepa Adventure with Mabel
This is the flour most commonly used in Venezuela. Those of you in Norway can find this in most ‘ethnic’ markets-especially Turkish stores.
Made in Venezuela (yes, we checked).
Measure out the flour, add to a bowl. Then add salt and water. It’s easier to mix the dough with your hands, then it is to mix with a spoon. You do what you’re comfortable with. Some people get weird-ed out by mixing things with their hands. I don’t, but if you do, use a spoon.
Portion the mixture, roll into balls, then flatten slightly before you place in the pan.
Some Tips on Making the Arepas Round and Flat:
Place the arepas, well spaced into a hot, slightly greased pan. They need to get a bit charred (blackened) on both sides before you put them on the baking sheet to pop in the oven.
Cooking Arepas in the Pan First
There’s Mabel, my arepa ambassador. She’s got a baking sheet full of arepas all ready to go into the oven.
Place the baking sheet in a warm oven for ca. 20 minutes, or until they sound hollow when you flick the top.
In they go!
We filled our arepas with tarragon mayo, a creamy sauce made of grilled bell peppers, aged Gouda cheese, shredded chicken breasts and of course, avocado. The photo doesn’t do the masterpiece justice.
Just imagine. . . crispy, crusty corn bun filled with shredded chicken, flavored mayo, avocado, aged Gouda and bell pepper sauce. Yum!
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Read more about my food adventures in Norway at Thanks For The Food. You can also follow me on Twitter at Thanks For The Food on Twitter. This post is for non-commercial, personal use only. Copyright © 2010 by Whitney @ Thanks For The Food.
In Colombia we just eat arepas whole 🙂 As soon as I read the part about splitting them open I thought “her friend must be Venezuelan” haha. But thank you for the blog. I cam here looking for some recipes and never thought I’d see arepas here. Yay for cross-cultural food learning!
Yay indeed! There is a Latin restaurant here in Sandnes which is quite popular, I wonder if they serve them whole there?
Easy but tasty dessert for the rest of the day 😉 I poured on it orange gin and peach jam by Bubub that I have bought on Home Delicatessen store. So the taste was awesome!
Hi, I’m Venezuelan and my bf is Norwegian so I spent a lot of time in Norway, specially in Drammen and Bergen I’ve been looking for Harina Pan for almost 4 years now and haven’t been able to find it 🙁 I’ve been to international markets but all they seem to have is some indian cornflour that doesn’t work (I tried). Does anyone know where can I find Harina Pan near Drammen or Bergen? Thanks!
Perhaps you know now, but it is not longer allowed to sell/import pan into Norway , due to it being made with genetically modified corn. The days of arepas at home are over 🙁
I’m currently on the hunt for Masa Harina in the Oslo area. 3 years of looking and I’ve not found it yet. I came across PAN for the first time today, and I’m wondering if you’ve tried to make corn tortillas with the Harina PAN instead of the Masa
If you are looking for “Mexican” style masa harina-you’re probably outta luck-sorry! I’ve made corn tortillas with “Harina PAN” several times and the taste is nearly the same. It’s not a good substitute for tamales, but for corn tortillas it’s pretty good.
Mucho Mas in Grunerløkka makes their own corn tortillas and snacks from Masa harina. You can buy it from them as well.
You can buy the right cornflour “Harina PAN” at Norvina in Nytorget 6, Stavanger: http://www.norvinamat.no/AboutUs.aspx.
Francis
Yes, Norvina’s is a great source for international ingredients in the Rogaland area. There are also many stores in Sandnes sentrum which carry Harina PAN.
By the way, would tou mind giving me the measurements for the recipe? I couldn’t fint them here…
You saved my week now! I love arepas, as I greew up with this delicious dish when I was younger and lived in Venezuela. I’ve tried to make them here in Norway after we moved back, but can’t seem to find the right cornflour. Now I’m going to see if I can find the brand that you used:)
Jeanette