| What is an Arepa? |
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An Arepa is a delicious Venezuelan flatbread made from coarsely ground corn. It is served grilled and stuffed with a choice variety of ingredients. |
It was Christopher Columbus who presented to the Europeans the first golden grains of corn. In his hasty search for the Indies he found a continent from which he did not bring silks nor spices, but instead he brought a grain that together with rice and wheat is basis for the triad of today's world food consumption. Totally unknown in the Old World, corn, (scientific name zea mays) had been established in The Americas for centuries. There is evidence that one type of wild corn grew in Mexico since 80,000 BC. No one knows how it evolved to become today's corn, but evidence shows that Mexican Indians used to cultivate it and consumed it at least since 4,000 BC. When the Spaniards arrived to the New World corn was already established as a crop in the whole American continent. Today in North America corn is mostly consumed as cereal in the form of corn flakes, popcorn, muffins, and polenta. Derivatives, such as corn oil and syrups are widely used. The list of corn uses in Latin America is enormously rich since corn is the basis for much of the regional cuisine. It is used to make bread, tortillas, tamales, empanadas, buñuelos and arepas, as well as to prepare drinks such as atole, champurriada, guarapo, mazato, champus and chicha. It is also used in soups, ajiaco,guisos, masamorra and polenta. It is consumed on the cob, broiled and baked. Arepas can be found in all regions of Colombia and Venezuela.
– www.arepas.com |
