The Cachapa is a typical Venezuelan dish made from corn.
The most common varieties are made with freshly ground corn mixed into a dense batter that can be cooked on a budare, like pancakes, and consumed throughout the country. It is also known as cachapa de budare, or wrapped in dried corn leaves and boiled (cachapa de hoja).
Traditionally, it is prepared with yellow corn passed through a mill or with tender white corn jojoto.
Served folded in half, it can be accompanied by ham, queso de mano (a soft cheese similar to mozzarella), Guayanés cheese (a fresh, soft-textured cheese without a rind, made with pasteurized milk), quesito colombiano, butter, or margarine (for starters), chicharrón served on the side (for breakfast), and various other combined ingredients.
To prepare the cachapa, first the corn is shelled, ground, and mixed with the liquid derived from grinding. If the corn is a bit dry, milk can be added, sugar to taste, or panela, butter to taste, and a pinch of salt.
Nowadays, fresh corn is replaced with canned or frozen corn to speed up the process and make it more convenient.
The mixture should result in a thick, lumpy cream.
Modern cachapas are made with a combination of corn, milk, salt, water, and sugar.
The presence of corn has remained stable, as sweet corn is used in many main Venezuelan dishes, like arepas.
Should not be confused with cachapa de Hoja, which consists of a corn sandwich wrapped in the husk of the cob.
A derivative dish is instead Cachapa Gratin, where the cachapas are gratinéed with béchamel, cheese, and butter.
In 2019, it was recognized as an Intangible Heritage of Venezuela.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2People
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Venezuelan
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups sweet corn
- 2 teaspoons sugar (or panela)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg (optional)
- to taste queso de mano (or mozzarella)
- to taste salt
Steps
Blend the corn, strain it, and, if necessary, add 1/4 cup of milk, add the sugar (or panela), a pinch of salt, and the melted butter.
The addition of the egg is optional.
On a greased crepe pan, create circles of 4-5 inches.
Fold in half, stuffing with queso de mano (or mozzarella, or other similar cheese). Cook for about 10 minutes.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are other names for cachapa?
In the Eastern Llanos, they are known as arepas de maíz jojoto or tierno (tender corn).
In Seville, Spain, there is a similar word in the Chaima dialect, which is recorded as the indigenous word “kachapa” to prepare a sweet arepa for the Chaima (a Venezuelan tribe).
In Venezuela, the word “cachapera” refers to restaurants that sell this product.
However, in Puerto Rico, cachapera might also be a derogatory term for a lesbian.
In Costa Rica, chorreadas are similar.What is a budare?
The budare is a circular clay dish from pre-Hispanic traditional gastronomy.
Originally made of clay, it is used to bake or roast foods such as arepas, cachapas, yuca, mañoco, or coffee, among others.
Aripo is the cast iron version, although they are practically used as synonyms.
