The 101 On Epanadas and Arepas

Know your…AREPA

Arepas are, in essence, the essence of what was once Gran Colombia - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama (though they prefer their version of tortillas). Once linked together but now separate, each country has its own claim as to the history of the arepa, and each consume it as part of their national identity, sometimes as an entire personality. At its most basic, an arepa is a corn cake made from ground maize (yellow or white), combined with salt and water. That’s it. By itself it doesn’t sound like much, but the potential is endless. 

Much the same way the Greeks and Turks fight over who has the right to claim the baklava, Colombia and Venezuela have been in a heated argument over who invented the arepa since forever. The earliest reported arepa in Colombia is from 3,000 years ago, while in Venezuela it’s only 2,800, so you know, make your own conclusions! 

If we go back, the Spanish Habsburg crown once laid claim to the regions of Colombia and Venezuela, and ruled them as viceroyalties. Then, after the Spaniards were kicked to the curb, there was a brief moment when the colonies banned together and created the country of Gran Colombia, which again included the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama (in fact, Panama didn’t cede from Colombia until the early 20th century thanks to the help of Teddy Roosevelt, who was trying to build a canal through the isthmus for cheaper than Colombia was charging). As we know, Gran Colombia broke up, and here is where our arepa fights begin. No longer could the arepa claim to be Colombian - it was now fragmented, regardless of the common history. As such, the arepas took on distinctive characteristics based on the individual country. Colombian arepas are different from Venezuelan arepas, for example.

Venezuelan arepas are usually served stuffed, with the disk of corn sliced horizontally and then stuffed with anything you want, usually some sort of chicken, or beef, or cheese, avocado, even egg or plantains. Arepas are a blank canvas and can be treated as sandwich bread!

In Colombia, arepas are usually served intact with the fillings served as a top. So, the arepa itself is a plate. It can also be served in smaller, bite sized portions in lieu of dinner rolls, for example. Specialty arepas, of which there are over 75 different versions in Colombia alone, vary from the cheesy to the salty. You can have a breakfast arepa, a fried breakfast arepa filled with an egg, a sweet corn arepa stuffed with mozzarella cheese (arepa de choclo, my favorite), or anything else your heart desires. 

What’s lovely about arepas is that they’re so versatile that you can project whatever you wish onto them, and it works! There is no wrong way to eat them. The only thing wrong is to NOT eat them! 

Know Your…EMPANADA

An empanada is a meal that can fit in your hand. It’s nature’s protein bar, as I like to say. Many countries have their version of a turnover filled with a stuffing of some sort. The British have their pasty’s, the Jamaicans have patties, the Italian’s have calzones, panzerotto and ‘mpanatigghi, and the Hispanics have empanadas! Following this rationale I guess we can say the Americans have Hot Pockets. 

Originally from Spain, empanadas spread throughout the Hispanic world the same Julio Iglesias did - everywhere you go, it’s there. Countries once under Spanish dominion (and some just adjacent) usually have their local version of empanadas, including countries you’d never imagine, like France, India, the Philippines and Indonesia. The knish is a cousin of the empanada! 

Probably the most famous empanada in the Argentinian empanadas of which there are dozens of local varieties, but which overall are usually stuffed with ground beef, olives and egg and baked in a not too flaky dough. Argentina is the gold standard of empanadas. 

In Colombia, our empanadas are slightly different, and we usually serve them as an appetizer, or side dish, or as part of something bigger. Our famous fried empanadas are made with yellow maize, are stuffed with ground beef or chicken, served with lime, and are small in size, two or three bites at most. I guess if Argentine empanadas are a loaf of bread, Colombian fried empanadas are garlic knots. 

The Chilean empanadas distinguish themselves by having a fancy way of folding over their edges instead of crimping them like the Argentinian ones. 

In El Salvador, instead of using dough, they use plantains to make their empanadas, which renders them sweet and savory at the same time. 

At TOMA, we took the variety of empanadas into consideration when creating our recipes, and we picked the best from a variety of countries and blended them into one glorious empanada, which is different but based on tradition. For example, our dough is Bolivian, but our meat filling is more Chilean, and our structure is Argentinian, and our chicken empanada is based on the zesty flavors of Mexico, which is both unusual and delicious! The empanada as a concept is our blank canvas, so don’t be surprised if you see dessert empanadas, stuffed with things like nutella, dulce de leche, or even ube, because with empanadas, there are no limits!