I recently caught up with some friends after their trip home to Venezuela. As they talked about what they did and what they ate, I couldn’t help but crave Venezuelan comfort foods—especially when one of them claimed they were “magically cured from a cold” after eating reina pepiadas, which are arepas (a kind of bread made with corn flour, water, and salt) filled with chicken breast, avocado, shredded fresh cheese, and mayonnaise. Just writing about it makes me hungry.
I immediately thought of my favourite comfort dish, one of the most delicious foods on the planet (especially if it’s made by my beloved abuela [grandma]), Cachapas de maíz molido con queso de mano. Cachapas are a Venezuelan sweet corn pancake made with fresh corn dough that can be filled with many toppings, like shredded beef or chicken, avocado, plus a ½” thick slice of cheese. My abuela always served our cachapas in the traditional way, with a butter cube and that thick, fresh, handmade cheese. Every time I think about this dish, I would remember her in her backyard manually grinding corn, smiling at me while telling me stories of how she learned to harvest corn from the field. I would instantly know what we were having for dinner.
Obviously, comfort foods can’t “magically cure” us like my friend said, but they can make us feel better, and that’s probably why we crave them (I can finally say I understand all the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” references). Venezuelan food is not just comfort food to me, it helps me reconnect with my culture while being away from home. One of the biggest challenges for me moving to Vancouver was not being able to find a Venezuelan restaurant. I didn’t know how to cook when I first arrived in Canada either, so I had to teach myself how to make my favourite dishes from back home. I was surprised in the beginning with all the different food options we have over here, and I still get super excited every time I dine out, but I know if I want a good cachapa or any other authentic Venezuelan dish, I have to make it myself.
Learning how to cook all these dishes is still a work in progress; I started watching YouTube videos and I often communicate with my grandma (yes, my 84-year-old abuela has WhatsApp). I ask her about tricks in the kitchen and cooking techniques all the time, and her advice always comes in handy. While the road to a perfect cachapa is long (and I miss the ones my abuela makes), I’m still taking on the noble quest of finding ingredients to recreate the taste of that glorious first bite.
There are so many different cuisines in this beautiful multicultural city of Vancouver. It’s made my list of favourite foods super long and diverse, but nothing makes me feel more at home than Venezuelan food. Being away from home is a unique experience and sometimes we just want to embrace our roots to feel closer to our loved ones. For me, food connects me not only to my culture, but also to my family.
If you are curious how cachapas taste, try my recipe! It’s budget-friendly and I’ve also added vegan substitutes in case you are following a plant-based diet.
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears of corn) or 2 cans of corn
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup of arepa flour
- 1 tbsp Butter or ghee
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
Substitutions
- Any plant-based creamer & unsweetened plant-based milk will work as a substitution
- Canola oil instead of butter/ghee
- Daiya Monterey Style is a great cheese alternative
- Sweetener instead of sugar
Tips
If using canned corn, rinse it a few hours before using and let it dry to remove moisture
Arepa flour is Harina P.A.N. (yellow package) and is usually available at Superstore or at Latin American grocers.
Queso de mano is the traditional cheese for this; if you want the real deal, this cheese can be found in Venezuela, USA, and Spain
Instructions
- Set 4 tbsp of corn kernels aside
- Add the cream, milk, remainder of corn kernels, sugar, salt, and the arepa flour into a blender; blend until a thick paste forms
- Stir the rest of the corn kernels in. Pulse on blender for a few seconds (you want to have some kernel texture)
- Let stand for 5 minutes
- Preheat a flat non-stick pan over medium heat
- Once the pan is hot, add some butter or ghee
- Make each cachapa by using 1/3 cup of the mixture at a time and create a circle about four inches in diameter (just like making pancakes)
- Cook for 4-5 minutes then flip with a spatula.
- Cook for 3 minutes on the other side until the cachapa is golden brown
- Serve hot with butter and spread cheese onto one side of a cachapa and then top it with another cachapa to make a big one, or you can just fold it like a crepe after adding the cheese
- Buen provecho!
