Arepa

Just as the Mexicans have their tortillas, the Colombians have their arepas, corn flour cakes that come in a million different varieties. They eat them for breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks. They can merely accompany a meal or be the meal. There’s a whole aisle at the supermarket that’s dedicated to them. They heat them up and smear them with a feta-like cheese (quesito), or they’ll throw just about any stir-fry on top of them, making for a fancy dinner. There’s also Venezuelan-style arepas “rellenas”, which are split open on one side and crammed with your choice of fillings. In the Caribbean region of Colombia, they put a fried egg inside it. Hot chocolate is the drink of choice to accompany an arepa snack.

They sure are good!