Although consumed in other countries, Arepas are the ‘daily bread’ of the Venezuelan diet. A dish invented by the natives of the Andes, the arepa is a circular bread made out of pre-cooked corn flour. Although they are usually grilled and baked, some boil or even fry their arepas. The beauty of these corn disks is that, like any bread, you can stuff them with anything you want and make them into instant crowd pleasers. You can also add cheese or brown sugar to the dough to create different variations. Although arepas can be consumed at any of the three meals, there’s nothing more traditional than stopping by an ‘arepera’ at 3 a.m. after a night of dancing, but it may take a bit of work to find an arepera in the States.

Following is a recipe for the most traditional arepa: the reina pepiada – a perfect marriage of chicken and avocado salad inside the crunchy golden dough.

The arepa:

Take a cup of finely ground, pre-cooked, white corn flour (Harina Pan is preferred). Slowly, add an equal amount of water while kneading. You might need more or less water depending on the humidity of the environment. Add a dash of salt. Knead the mixture with your hands until it is thoroughly blended into dough and let it rest for a few minutes.

Take a small amount of the dough and pat it into a flat, round cake, about the size of the palm of your hand, or slightly smaller. It should be about a quarter of an inch thick. Shape and press it around the edges to make it even and smooth. Continue making more cakes until the dough is used up.

Grease a heavy skillet or griddle and place it over a low flame. It should not be too hot. When the surface is hot, place the cakes, one or two at a time, on the griddle to brown on both sides. Put them in the oven to bake for about 15 minutes. (You may also fry them, turning once, in about a quarter inch of hot oil.)

TO SERVE: Slice the arepa like a hamburger bun, discard some of the steaming meal that is still soft in the middle, fill with choice of filling.

Filling:

- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 Onion
- 1 green onion
- Garlic clove
- 1 Lemon
- Cup of water
- ½ cup of Mayo
- 2 avocadoes
- salt and pepper

Cook chicken breasts in stock or water. Cut onion, green onion and garlic and mash the avocadoes. Mix all of the ingredients and stuff them in the piping hot arepa. Serve with hot sauce for an extra kick.

Buen Provecho!