Comedian Sparks Debate on Whether Arepas Are Colombian or Venezuelan
Latinos are very proud, and sometimes defensive, of their food. Mexicans staunchly defend the taco. No one can convince a Peruvian that their food isn’t the best. Dominicans lay claim that the mofongo is theirs and not Puerto Rico’s. Another debate that is as old as time? The passionate discussion between Venezuela and Colombia on who owns the arepa.
In an episode of mitú’s “3Gs in a Pod” podcast, guest Joanna Hausmann cites that arepas are a Venezuelan delicacy.
Hausmann, who is Venezuelan, unleashes a passionate argument on the hosts about what makes the arepa she grew up eating superior. Dominican-American host Sasha Merci opened the conversation by noting that “food is the gate to the soul,” with her co-hosts Erik Rivera and Jesus Sepulveda agreeing. Then she asked Hausmann what her favorite food was.
The Venezuelan-American comedian made it known just how much she dislikes the Colombian arepa
Hausmann does not hold back on how she truly feels about who claims the arepa. She asserts to the podcast hosts that Venezuela is the clear winner for this dish.
“So the arepas, which Colombians claim is theirs, and it is f**king not! It is f**king not. It is absolutely not,” she stresses.
The TV Writer and actor even went into detail about the key differences between the two styles of arepas.
She continues, “And by the way, the Colombian arepa is this anorexic little flat pancake. [The] Venezuelan arepa is this curvy, full of, like, masa, sexy little sandwich thing.”
Hausmann introduced Sepulveda to the reina pepiada
The comedian’s favorite way to eat an arepa? Venezuela’s Reina Pepiada, of course.
She looks off-camera and asks, “And you know what? Can you google my favorite one, which is Reina Pepiada? Reina pepiada — which is, I think, it means queen pepiada.”
So, what’s in this mega-arepa? According to Hispanic Kitchen, this arepa is filled with chicken salad and avocado.
Upon seeing a picture of it, Sepulveda quips that it looks like a “gordita.” Prompted by her memories of Venezuelan food, Merci brought up cachapas. Sepulveda, who hadn’t heard of cachapas, asked what was in them.
“Carne mechada, or as Cubans call it, ropa vieja,” Hausmann adds, to which Sepulveda joked that it “looks like a pancake taco.”
