We’re kicking off our new “culture” section with a recipe for a version of a traditional Colombian dish: Arepa de queso!
While we never fail to tell you about the cultural particularities of each region, we wanted to share with you posts dedicated to Colombian culture. After surveying our readers, we realized that many of you wanted to do just that!
In these posts, we’ll be talking about Colombian culture in the broadest sense of the term: music, cinema, art, photography, literature, as well as gastronomy, crafts, traditions, myths, local beliefs and legends, etc.
Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.
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Arepa de queso
Recipe for Colombian dishes
Arepa de queso is a corn cake with cheese inside. It’s eaten mainly for breakfast. At least, that’s how we eat it at home!
The arepa is one of Colombia’s emblems. Another tradition straight from the indigenous peoples! In fact, everything to do with corn in Colombia is indigenous.
There are different types of arepa in Colombia, depending on the region, the type of corn used (yes, there are lots of different kinds), and what’s inside.
Here are a few examples of arepas:
- De queso (white corn and cheese)
- De huevo (yellow corn or trisazon and egg)
- Rellena (white corn filled with various ingredients, often with meat)
- De chocolo (tierno corn)
- Boyacense (very thick arepa made with boyacense corn)
- Santandereana (pelao corn)
- Paisa (very thin white corn)
- etc.
We’ll try to introduce you to different arepa recipes, but we’ll start with the one we’re used to making at home, with ingredients you’ll find abroad: arepa de queso.
Ingredients for 4 Arepas de queso
Colombian recipe
Here we go! Like all recipes, this is our version of Arepas de queso. As you can imagine, every family has its own recipe and way of making arepas! If you’d like to share your own Arepa de queso recipe in the comments, don’t hesitate 😉
Ingredients for 4 arepas de queso
- One mug of pre-cooked white corn flour (we use the Harina PAN brand (yellow packet), which is easy to find in Latin stores or order online)
- A mug of lukewarm water, or a little more if necessary
- Option: add a little milk if you like
- A little butter
- A pinch of salt
- Small pieces of Mozarella cheese, for simplicity. (not Buffala, not in a ball)
Tips: we insist, but you can’t make empanadas with the corn flour found in “normal” supermarkets. You need “pre-cooked corn flour”, which ican be found under the name PAN in Latin or “exotic” grocery stores, or on the Internet.
Making the Arepa dough
Recipe for Colombian Arepa de queso
Making the dough is really simple, you just need to pay attention to the final texture of the dough.
- Pour the flour into a bowl and mix with the salt
- Add a little water and start mixing with the flour
- Repeat the operation, massaging the dough well each time
- Add the butter while the dough is still warm, and continue kneading
- Finish adding water to the flour if you feel your dough still needs it
- Knead the dough well for at least 10 minutes to achieve the right texture (like modelling clay: if it’s too dry, it crumbles, if it’s too wet, it sticks)
Tips: you need to have a little warm water left over to knead the dough, so that you can wet your hands regularly. This also allows you to adjust the amount of water to achieve the right texture.
How to shape the Arepa
Recipe for a Colombian dish
Once the dough is ready, it’s time to make the arepa.
- Make two small balls
- Flatten the dough with the palms of your hands and shape it into a round ball (turning with thumb and forefinger). The round should be about 5mm thick.
- On one of the two discs, place the cheese in the middle (a thin slice will be perfect)
- With the second disk, cover the first and flatten the edges to close
- Turn the disc with your thumb and forefinger to give it a round shape and a little thickness (about 1cm in the end)
- Repeat with remaining dough.
Variants
You can add the grated cheese directly to the dough as you knead it. This saves you the somewhat technical step of closing the arepa. But you won’t get that slightly melting cheese feeling in the middle of the arepa.
How to cook Arepa de queso
Colombian recipe
We’ve reached the fateful moment! Cooking the Arepa. In some families, the arepa is fried. Colombians love fried food. But we prefer the arepa “asada”. This can be done on a griddle or grill over a wood fire, or simply in a frying pan, as we do.
- Heat a frying pan with a little butter
- Brown the arepas over medium heat, turning them from time to time
- When the arepa is nicely browned and the crust is crisp (this takes a little time), it’s ready!
Serving the arepa
Colombian gastronomy
Arepa con queso is best served for breakfast (or as a snack at any time)…
With a little salt and butter on top…
A good Colombian coffee…
And a fresh fruit juice!
Buen provecho!
