Colombian Arepas

"Arepas," pronounced as if, "ah-ray-pahs," are a type of corn flour cake common in Colombia and Venezuela. Each country has its own style of arepa, and the people of each country defend their country's arepa as the best. This article will deal with the Colombian style of arepas, and I will do the Venezuelan version soon. In Colombia, arepas are commonly, but not exclusively, eaten at breakfast, and they are also sold by street vendors. The major problem with making authentic arepas, from either Colombia or Venezuela, is its main ingredient, arepa flour. This flour, which comes in yellow or white, is made from ground, precooked corn meal, and from my readings, people from Venezuela and Colombia adamantly insist there is NO substitute for it. I actually read some heated replies to people who dared suggest that masa harina (the flour used to make tortillas), or American cornmeal (used to make mush, as well as cornbread), could be used in the making of arepas. WHEW! This type of response is not uncommon about "ethnic" or "national" recipes, and it is certainly not limited to Colombians and Venezuelans. Let's not forget how some Americans in the Northeast can argue over milk/cream-based New England clam chowder and tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder, so even regional differences in recipes can provoke a surly exchange, but I really think Bostonians and New Yorkers just like to torment each other. Likewise, there is a debate, centered in Texas, over whether "real" chili has beans. 

The thing is, Americans long ago learned to "bend the rules" a bit when it came to dishes from their original homelands. As immigrants came to the U.S., they could not always find every single ingredient for some of their beloved recipes from home, so they did what they needed to do... they IMPROVISED! Of course today, especially in more recent times, the world has shrunk, as products are flown from distant lands to other countries in a matter of hours, making more "authentic" recipes possible. And don't forget, "authentic" is in the eye of the beholder, as I noted above with "chili" and with "clam chowder." Myself, I enjoy trying to duplicate recipes from around the world, and regular readers know I've been traveling the globe without ever leaving the kitchen, although I did once have Hong Kong flu and I wasn't anywhere near Hong Kong, damn! While it's great to cook and enjoy foods as authentic as possible, I also like to try new things or variations to old recipes, and if that includes substitutions of ingredients, so be it. Believe me, the world will not end because of such silly things.

So what should you do to make this recipe? You can find arepa flour in many Latino markets or in some supermarkets (check the Latino food section), and it is available online, but if you have masa harina or polenta/cornmeal, you can use it, but it will not be quite as genuine. Arepa flour is precooked and a bit starchier (because of the way it is processed) than the aforementioned products, and the cakes come out with a crunchy outside, but a soft and smooth inside. Just a guess here, but maybe if you mix a little regular flour (just a couple of tablespoons per cup) with the cornmeal it will help a little? That's just a guess, because I used real arepa flour, which is not really very expensive.    

Just remember when making this, you are not making a batter, but rather a "dough;" you know, as in the song lyrics, "dough a deer, a female deer." Ah wait, that's the wrong "doe," I mean, "dough." 

Ingredients:

2 cups arepa flour, yellow or white
2 teaspoons salt (the cheese and butter have salt)
3 1/2 to 4 cups warm water (see instructions below)
1 cup shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened (room temperature)
oil for frying (use a neutral oil, not one like extra virgin olive oil, which has flavor and will then flavor the cakes)

Add the flour to 3 1/2 cups warm water in a bowl. Add the salt and mix, making sure there are no lumps. Let it sit until the water is fully absorbed, about 10 to 15 minutes. If the mix is too dry, add a tablespoon or two of warm water at a time, until there is no dry flour, but it should not be runny or "loose." * Add the shredded cheese and the softened butter, mix well by hand. You can roll out the dough into about 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out rounds of arepas, or you can form them by hand. If you have a griddle, you can lightly oil it and fry several arepas at a time; or, you can use a skillet with a little oil, to fry the cakes. Medium heat is a good setting and fry the cakes until they are browned on both sides. Serve with a little more shredded cheese on top. In Colombia they are often served at breakfast with a fried egg on the side or placed right on top, but other toppings or side dishes are not uncommon. 

* The first time I made arepas, I added too much water, which I corrected by adding a little more arepa flour and by letting the mix sit a little longer. 

I had these arepas for lunch, along with a few anchovy stuffed olives from Spain; one of my weaknesses.

WORD HISTORY:
Animal-This word goes back to Indo European "ane/ene," which had the meaning, "to breathe." This gave its Latin offspring the noun, "anima," which meant, "breath, wind, air," and by extension from "breath," "soul or spirit, life." This produced Latin "animalis" (adjective meaning, "living"), the neuter form of which produced the noun, "animal(e)," meaning, "living being, breathing being." English borrowed the word around 1300, with likely reinforcement from French, a Latin-based language, which had the same form. Gradually "animal" ousted the native English word (of Germanic derivation) "deer," which had long been the general word for "animal" (the closely related German word "Tier," is still the general word for "animal" in German), and "beast," a word borrowed by English and of Latin derivation, which was often already replacing "deer" in the general sense. With "deer" so long established in English, it did not die out, but rather it continued to develop the more specific meaning for the type of animal of its meaning in modern times, which had begun prior to the borrowing of "animal." "Beast" expanded in meaning beyond its general use for "animal," to most often carry a negative meaning for both humans and animals of an especially cruel nature. The general use of "animal" did not take place until the 1600s.