It's hard not to love everything about Venezuela. Venezuela is not only known for its beautiful landscapes and environmental diversity, but also for its delicious traditional food that celebrates and joins distinct flavors from differing areas of the world. Venezuelan cuisine is influenced by European, West African, and Native American traditions. The main ingredients in Venezuelan cuisine are corn, beans, yucca (tapioca), and plantains. The most well known Venezuelan food is the arepa, which is a thick disk-shaped cornmeal "sandwich" which can be either baked, fried, or made using an arepa maker, and filled with delicious thick slices of cheese, vegetables, egg, meat, avocado, plantains, or anything else you're craving. If you want an arepa around the Miami area, run to Holy Bagels, Doggi's Arepa Bar, or La Latina.
Coming from a Venezuelan family, I love Venezuelan food. My personal favorite part of Venezuelan cuisine is the fried, golden brown, and crispy tequeño! Tequeños are deep-fried cheese sticks wrapped in thick, flaky pastry dough. For Venezuelans, a party with tequeños is simply not a party! One tequeño has 295 calories, but it is totally worth it, because once you try a tequeño, you will never want an American mozarella stick ever again. Tequeños originated in the town of Los Teques, in Venezuela. They are served with tartar sauce, tomato sauce, pink sauce, or guacamole. In my opinion, the best tequeños in Miami can be found in Fresko.
So, why does Venezuelan food taste so good? After asking my Venezuelan family and friends, they told me it's because Venezuelan food is made with love, happiness, and warmth. Venezuelan cuisine is a mix of different cultures from around the world, and all Venezuelan dishes are made with rich spices, tropical flavors, and lavishing sweetness. Venezuelan snacks and chocolates are also out-of-this-world delicious! Some snacks and chocolate I recommend are Susy, Cocosette, Cricri, and Toronto. You can buy all of these snacks in the US in stores called Locatel.
The traditional Venezuelan national dish is pabellon, which is made of shredded meat, rice, black beans, plantains, and corn. There is currently a food shortage in Venezuelan, and that has caused Venezuelans to make simpler recipes of their dishes, however the food is still buenisma!
Arepas (By @dahealthyness)
- Prep Time:10 mins
- Cook Time:10 mins
- Total Time:20 mins
- Servings:2
- Easy
- 2tbsp corn flour
- 2tbsp rolled oats
- 1tbsp flaxseeds
- Pinch salt
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Add warm water until you get a consistent dough.
-
Step 2
Make balls and press them to form the arepas.
-
Step 3
Heat a pan and cook the arepas on low heat side by side.
-
Step 4
Once ready cut them in the middle and fill them.
Arepas can be grilled, fried, or baked and they are stuffed with cheese, avocado, egg, or anything else your heart desires.
Cachapas (By @dahealthyness)
- Prep Time:10 mins
- Cook Time:10 mins
- Total Time:20 mins
- Servings:3
- Easy
- 1 egg+ 2 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cup corn
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1tbsp flaxseeds
- Drizzle almond milk
- 1 tbsp stevia
- Pinch salt
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Mix everything in a blender and pour the mix in a pre-heated pan.
-
Step 2
Cook each side and serve.
Cachapas are Venezuelan pancakes made from corn meal, like Arepas. Venezuelans love to put cheese, especially queso de mano, on top of their cachapa.
Conchitas de Platano (By @dahealthyness)
- Prep Time:10 mins
- Cook Time:10 mins
- Total Time:20 mins
- Servings:3
- Easy
- 1 ripped plantain cooked in the microwave for 2 minutes with the skin
- 3 tbsp corn flour
- Warm water
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Smash the plantain add the corn flour, and the water until you get a consistent dough.
-
Step 2
Make balls and put them in a panini press for 15 minutes.
Conchitas de platano are fried ripe plantain slices and they are sometimes sprinkled with a pinch of sugar to give them a sweet taste.
Tequeños (By @co_cinero)
- Prep Time:15 mins
- Cook Time:10 mins
- Total Time:25 mins
- Servings:6
- Easy
- 1 lb All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Lukewarm water
- Hard white cheese cut into strips
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Add flour to bowl.
-
Step 2
Add the salt, butter, and egg and mix very well. Slowly add the water to the mixture, continuing to mix to form a soft and elastic dough.
-
Step 3
Knead the dough very well and leave it without touching for about half an hour.
-
Step 4
Cut the dough into two big pieces. Roll out the dough until they are long and flat on a wide table. Sprinkle with flour to avoid sticking.
-
Step 5
Cut the dough into long strings; each one will be the dough for one tequeño. Cover each strip of cheese in the dough very wel, making sure there are no holes so that no cheese escapes.
-
Step 6
Heat up your oil of choice in a deep pan and fry the tequeños until they are golden brown.
-
Step 7
Accompany them with tartar sauce, guacamole, tomato sauce, or any other sauce of your liking and enjoy!
Tequeños are thick cheese sticks made with a super flaky dough, and the cheese inside melts and the sticks get all gooey and delicious! The best part of tequeños is definitely the melty, soft strips of white cheese in the inside.
Perico
- Prep Time:10 mins
- Cook Time:10 mins
- Total Time:20 mins
- Servings:5
- Easy
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 6 large eggs beaten
- Salt to taste
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, tomato, and red bell pepper and saute until softened.
-
Step 2
Reduce heat to low. Add the beaten egg mixture and salt to taste, scrambling everything together until the mixture is well cooked.
-
Step 3
Serve with arepas and a side of avocado and platanitos!
Perico is usually eaten for breakfast and it is the Venezuelan version of scrambled eggs. Typically, Perico is made with egg, onions, and tomatoes.