{"id":6583,"date":"2018-05-31T15:57:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T14:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/?p=6583"},"modified":"2019-12-18T16:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T16:30:00","slug":"mastering-ultimate-colombian-arepa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/2018\/05\/mastering-ultimate-colombian-arepa\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering the ultimate Colombian Arepa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you think of Colombian cuisine really, what springs to mind? Spice? the endless consumption of coffee? (which is all totally fabulous by the way) or you know, that famous Colombian dish everyone raves about&#8230;\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Burrito. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okay, okay, so whilst Colombian dishes aren\u2019t exactly the same as Mexican there is still plenty in the way of flavour. Bursting with a Caribbean influence and the freshest ingredients, Colombian cuisine has just a little bit of everything that you could ask for in the perfect dish. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With that in mind we\u2019d like to share the recipe for what is arguably one of the most popular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/food-and-drink-in-colombia\">foods in Colombia<\/a> &#8211; The Arepa. There\u2019s no way you will miss out on spotting these classic cornmeal cakes in their different variations on a trip to Colombia. They\u2019re just about anywhere from a restaurant or coffee shop to being sold by local street food vendors. Best of all, they\u2019re super easy to make!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical Colombian kitchen will contain the key ingredient that goes into making the perfect Arepa which is cornmeal flour (also known as \u2018Masarepa\u2019). Stock up on this, and you\u2019re already halfway to making a truly tasty Colombian dish. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6584 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepa-dough-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"Colombian Arepas\" width=\"740\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepa-dough-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepa-dough-768x441.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepa-dough.jpg 870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Ingredients<\/h3>\n<h3><b>For the dough (Makes approx 4 Arepas):<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 cups of Masarepa (cornmeal flour)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00bd cup of feta cheese (note that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">queso fresco, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a traditionally white crumbly cheese is used to make Arepas in Colombia, but feta is the recommended alternative). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00bd a tablespoon of soft melted butter<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 \u00bd cups of warm water<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00bd a teaspoon of salt<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Method<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl along with the soft butter and cheese.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>2. Warm up the water in a pan. Once warm (but not boiling) gradually pour into the cornmeal flour mixture until mixed well and a soft dough consistency is formed.<\/p>\n<p>3. Continue to knead the dough until soft.<\/p>\n<p>4. Separate the dough into small balls and flatten between your palms to form a thick patty (thickness can also vary to taste).<\/p>\n<p>5. Heat up a large non-stick skillet over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil until simmering.<\/p>\n<p>6. To get that perfect crunchy texture, fry the Arepas on both sides until golden brown (it normally takes between 8-10 minutes to fry). <strong>TIP:<\/strong> For an extra buttery flavour, spread a teaspoon of butter over the top of each Arepa when frying in the skillet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6607 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepas-colombia-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"Colombian Arepas with fillings\" width=\"732\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepas-colombia-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepas-colombia-768x441.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/arepas-colombia.jpg 870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Arepas can also be sliced in half and filled with anything that your heart desires. Common fillings you&#8217;ll find in Colombia are melted cheese and shredded beef (take me back already!). Almost every region across the country has its own take on the Arepa, from the\u00a0<em>Arepa de huevo\u00a0<\/em>which is filled with a fried egg inside to the\u00a0<em>Arepa de choclo\u00a0<\/em>which has a slightly sweeter taste.<\/p>\n<p>They say a recipe has no soul because you as the cook must bring the soul into the recipe, and that&#8217;s definitely the Colombian approach to cooking. They don&#8217;t serve up big portions for nothing \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #d2232a; color: #ffffff; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; padding: 8px;\">Fancy treating your tastebuds to some amazing Colombian cuisine? Check out our adventure tours in Colombia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/destinations\/south-america\/colombia\">here.<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you think of Colombian cuisine really, what springs to mind? Spice? the endless consumption of coffee? (which is all totally fabulous by the way) or you know, that famous Colombian dish everyone raves about&#8230;\u00a0The Burrito. Okay, okay, so whilst Colombian dishes aren\u2019t exactly the same as Mexican there is still plenty in the way [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[368,32,354],"tags":[90,151,153],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mastering the ultimate Colombian Arepa - Tucan Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/2018\/05\/mastering-ultimate-colombian-arepa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mastering the ultimate Colombian Arepa - Tucan Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you think of Colombian cuisine really, what springs to mind? 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