Venezuelan · snack

Arepa Reina Pepiada

Arepa Reina Pepiada reads sourness 6.0, citrus 6.0 and richness 5.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Venezuelan snack, about 49 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sourness 6.0 · Citrus 6.0 · Richness 5.6 · Salinity 4.5 · Herbaceous 3.9 · Allium 1.8 · Umami 1.5 · Sweetness 1.4 · Warm Spice 1.4 · Earthy 1.2 · Floral 0.9 · Bitterness 0.7 · Nutty 0.7 · Fruity 0.6 · Heat 0.6

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 49 min (44 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 92 kcal, 5.1 g protein, 6.8 g fat, 2.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. A Venezuelan arepa is a pocket. It is cooked thick, split along its equator like a pitta and packed until it will barely close — which is the plainest difference from the Colombian arepa, which is thinner and gets its cheese or butter on top. Pepiada, in Caracas slang of the 1950s, meant curvy, and the arepa was named for a beauty queen.
  2. Buy masarepa, sold as harina P.A.N., Juana or areparina. It is precooked, dried, reground maize. It is not masa harina — that is nixtamalised with lime for tortillas and tamales and behaves and tastes differently. Cornmeal, polenta and cornflour will all fail outright.
  3. Dissolve the dough salt in the warm water, then rain the masarepa in through your fingers while stirring with the other hand. Add the oil and knead in the bowl for 3 minutes until it is smooth and soft, like modelling clay.
  4. Rest the dough 5 minutes and then check it: pinch a ball and flatten it, and if the edges crack, wet your hands and knead again. Crack-free edges are the whole test.
  5. Divide into 6, roll into balls and flatten to discs 10 cm across and 1.5 cm thick, smoothing the edges between wet palms.
  6. Cook on a lightly oiled budare or heavy griddle over medium heat, 6 to 7 minutes a side, until a hard dry crust forms and the arepa sounds hollow when tapped. Finish them 10 minutes in a 200 C oven, which sets the inside and makes them easy to split.
  7. Meanwhile fold the shredded chicken with the mashed avocado, mayonnaise, lime, spring onion, cilantro, filling salt and pepper, then fold in the diced avocado last so there are still recognisable pieces.
  8. Split each hot arepa around the equator with a serrated knife, leaving a hinge, pull out a little of the soft interior if it is very doughy, and fill it until it will not close. Eat it hot, in both hands, over a plate.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.