Traditional Venezuelan cooking: golden arepas split and stuffed, corn cachapas folded around melting cheese, slow-simmered caraotas negras, crisp tequeños, and the four-part national plate, pabellón criollo.
Thick golden corn cakes with a crisp crust and a tender, steamy centre. Griddled then finished in the oven, split like a pocket, and stuffed with cheese, beans, or shredded beef.
Soft-scrambled eggs folded through a sofrito of onion and tomato. The Venezuelan breakfast standard, ready in 20 minutes and built for spooning into a split arepa.
Black beans simmered with onion, pepper, garlic, and cumin until glossy and thick, with an optional touch of papelón for the faintly sweet Caracas-style finish.
Sweet corn pancakes blended coarsely so they keep their kernels, griddled until golden, then folded around soft white cheese while it melts at the edges.
Strips of soft dough wound in a spiral around firm white cheese and fried until blistered and golden. The Venezuelan party pasapalo, served hot with garlic sauce.
Venezuela on a plate: shredded stewed beef, black beans, white rice, and caramelised ripe plantain, arranged in four distinct sections with the plantain around the rim.
