Queen of breakfast, mistress and mistress of the table in every family from the Colombian Pacific to the Venezuelan east, the everyday arepa is indisputably the nutritional pillar of both countries, besides being the reason for a dispute between the two peoples about its origin. To begin with, this chauvinistic fight between Venezuelans and Colombians over the arepa seems as absurd as it is useless, considering that this singular white corn disc existed long before anyone ever thought of drawing a dividing line and determining the names of each nation.
Centuries before the first European set foot on American territory, the native peoples that inhabited these lands already tasted the famous corn dough in the shape of a disc, generally roasted over a flat stone in embers. From what we know today as Mexico to Chile, these people made corn the essence of life, since many of the foods consumed at that time were made from this cereal. Thus, foods such as the Central American pupusas, the Mexican gorditas and obviously the Colombian-Venezuelan arepas emerged from these masses.
When the Spaniards arrived to the territory known today as Venezuela, they noticed that the indigenous peoples located in the eastern zone (today Sucre state), the so-called Cumanagotos, called "arepa" to that roasted corn dough with which they fed themselves. Later they realized that this kind of bread was rooted among the native populations in the north of South America, so this name was generalized to identify such a noble food.
Before the industrialization of corn and its consequent transformation into flour, the traditional way of making dough required time, knowledge and effort. It is necessary to emphasize that the human body has no capacity to digest corn grains, so the ancestral process to make of this cereal a dough suitable for consumption begins with the soaking in water for at least 24 hours of the grains with a mixture of ashes of dry sticks or lime. This process helps to generate the enzymes to make the arepa digestible. Then they are drained, the shell is removed, dried, ground, the dough is made and then the arepas, you have to recncerlo, it is a work of much effort.
Definitely the best thing that happened to the arepa is the invention of corn flour, this fact occurred in the mid-twentieth century helped to massify this food like never before. That way, the breakfast arepa became as daily as the morning coffee. But it not only promoted the proliferation of the arepa but also made it more diverse, that is to say, if they were generally cooked roasted on an iron griddle that the natives called budare, they could also be prepared fried and even baked, not to mention the variety of fillings.
Between Colombia and Venezuela there are countless ways of preparing and tasting the arepa, although among Colombians they prefer it without filling, as an accompaniment to meals (a kind of bread to clean the dishes from the remains of sauce), while for Venezuelans it is a main food with as many fillings as there are stars in the universe. In this point stand out: 'la pelúa' (shredded meat with grated yellow cheese), 'dominó' (black beans with white cheese) and my favorite the 'Reina Pepiada' a delicacy that carries inside a mixture of chicken, avocado, mayonnaise and some seasonings.
Regardless of its origin or which country is credited with its creation, the arepa has evolved to become a world heritage food and tasted almost everywhere in the world.
