World Arepa Day: Venezuelan or Colombian? History of the dispute over its origin

“We come from the same arepa” says a popular Colombian expression which refers to those who come from the same origin, or have experienced similar circumstances.

However, the near literality of this saying was not a sufficient argument to decide the intense debates that Venezuelans and Colombians can lead to define the nationality of the arepa.

Just as the Peruvians and the Chileans argue about the origin of pisco, and the Chinese accuse the Italians of having stolen the paternity of the pasta, the inhabitants of these two nations, which once formed the Great Colombia, they still cannot agree on the birthplace of the popular dish.

The arepa is generally defined as a round white bread, made with cornmeal. But, its flavor, versatility and socio-cultural significance have made it much more than “bread”.

Know what they put, they say in Venezuela. The toppings or side dishes can be as varied and exotic as the guests prefer: meats of different types and in different presentations, eggs, cheeses, sausages, vegetables and compotes of legumes, enter the list of favorites.

Over the years, “arepa” has become more and more popular in many countries around the world. This, in particular, Due to exodus of Venezuelans who are today on the five continents fleeing the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and those who say they were born “with an arepa under their arm”.

“I believe that the Venezuelan diaspora is an important element in the internationalization of the arepa, not only in the Venezuelan way and in the Venezuelan style, but also now everyone will taste the arepas as a fusion in the country where they are. “, explained Ocarina Castillo, anthropologist and author of the book “The breads of Venezuela”.

Despite the tirade between countries, there are marked differences between products from nation to nation.

“Colombians are wider and flatter, because they are used as accompaniments, they are the bread of meals. Venezuelan women are shorter and thicker, because they are drunk, ”explained Luisana La Cruz, coordinator of World Arepa Day, which has been celebrated on the second Saturday in September for 10 years.

This celebration has not been formalized by UNESCO. since they don’t have the million signatures needed to submit the request to the agency. Despite the fact that only between Venezuela and Colombia there are almost 80,000,000 inhabitants.

Arepa is a noble, versatile and multifaceted product. According to chef and culinary researcher Carlos Gaviria, in Colombia, there are well over 61 types of arepas that he managed to document in his book “Colombian Arepas”.

“We still think that arepa is equal to corn and it turns out that in Colombia We have arepas of many other types: cassava, arracacha, rice or potato, like the llapingachos from the south of the country on the border with Ecuador. We also have wheat flour arepas and arepas of different shapes compared to corn and its treatment, ”he added.

But, so far, we have only progressed the importance of arepa as a main dish on the tables of Colombians and Venezuelans, which gives us a good explanation of the very heated discussions on the origin of the coveted bread.

THE PROOF

Historical records reveal that arepa is a dish of the original peoples. Even when the Europeans arrived on Venezuelan territory in 1498, they not only obtained food, but with all the development for its transformation: the elements for husking and grinding the corn, the casseroles for the dough and the plates for the cook over fire. , called “budares”.

The word arepa is associated with the Cumanagota language of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the state of Sucre in eastern Venezuela, where the Spaniards entered the mainland.

“The natives used the word erepa to refer to the corn cakes that were baked in the budares. The Spaniards will speak in many of their later archives about these breads from this land, referring to arepa and casabe (another type of bread made from cassava flour), ”Castillo explained.

Does this mean that the arepa is Venezuelan? Not exactly, although it is not a minor fact.

Castillo explained that Indigenous communities were deeply connected to each other: “Often they came from the same background who have common pasts and when some move they take their food, their habits with them.”

“There are many descriptions of visitors from that time talking about arepa. They said they saw, ate and saw made arepas and that was in the 16th century. This also happened in Colombia at the same time “, said the anthropologist.

Until now no concrete record has been found of when the world’s first arepa could have been served. However, the date is believed to have been long before the Spanish arrived in America, given that corn harvests on the continent, from Canada to the last corner of Argentinian Patagonia, date back over four thousand years.

“Venezuela and Colombia will be born as republics in the first decades of the nineteenth century, after 1830 when Grand Colombia disappears”, Castillo explained, “The arepa is much older than our republicsIt had an existence in the original societies, it was long before the presence of Europeans on these lands ”.

“The arepa was born long before the existence of these administrative entities which are now called Colombia and Venezuela”, he asserted.

Despite the presence of food in almost all the countries of the continent, it is only Venezuelans and Colombians who are the protagonists of the disputes over their origin.

“I wouldn’t think that the origin is neither Colombian nor Venezuelan,” said chef Gaviria. “The arepa is a common element across the continent as such. In some places it changes its name: in Mexico it is called tortillas, in Central America it is called pupusas and properly in Colombia and Venezuela it is called arepas ”.

But to say that the arepa in its different versions is everywhere is not what makes it special. What makes the arepa unique is its personality and this authentic way of fitting in wherever it goes.

“Sometimes it seems like the only arepa that exists is the one everyone eats. That is to say, Colombians think the only arepa is the one they are used to eating and Venezuelans think the same. But at the same time, the people of Caracas also believe the same and probably the Orientals, Andeans and Llaneros do too, ”Castillo added.

Like many typical dishes from other nations, arepa is synonymous with culture, identity and patriotism. She is a kind of ambassador who travels the world claiming the value of many peoples who were once one.

The arepa is also synonymous with home, family and the effort of those who work to put it at the table every day.. And maybe that explains the passion with which so many Venezuelans and Colombians defend their dishes, or maybe it is because it is reminiscent of meetings around large tables with exquisite contours or toppings that make you drop in love with the palates of those who taste them.

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