I haven’t posted an article on Food Trucks in some time, when a friend of mine told me about the arepa REPUBLIC. I was ready for a true Venezuelan experience. I approached this Food Truck and hear soft music playing, I glance the menu up and down and my taste buds are very much intrigued. Authentic Venezuelan names of these grilled corn meal sandwiches, that are an everyday tradition in Venezuela.
Arepa’s are a corn made pancake, you can make them sweetened or unsweetened. As the owners Veronica & Luis will explain to their customers anything they may want to know about these Arepa’s. That’s great product knowledge and I loved watching them explain about their Venezuelan culture. Either way it was time for the Arepa to come face to face with Da Butchers Daughter. I ordered the “Pabellon” a hometown favourite I was told, shredded flank steak, black beans, fried sweet plantain, fresh avocado & white cheese.
This Arepa meant business, it was huge and packed with the ethic flavours of the home country it came from. The tender shreds of the flank steak, black beans, creamy avocado, sweet plantains & white cheese all nestled together in this soft, warm & mouth-watering Arepa grilled corn meal sandwich. I gave this corn meal delicacy a drizzle of the special sauce of cilantro garlic mayo. It gave my mouth a pleasurable taste of sweet & smokey, & had me speaking Spanish by days end.
After consuming this taste of Venezuela, I was full for the whole day, but as packed as this arepa was, I was a healthy full, not over whelmed by the ingredients that came accompanied with this grilled corn meal sandwich. I guess that’s why in the European countries everybody is so happy. They eat with wholesome flavours & ingredients, and serve with pride, I love that.
The arepa Republic also served up this snack item called Tequenos, now a normal person would call these cheese sticks. WRONG! These little buggers were so good, I really could have eaten a dozen of them. These fried tiny baguettes are stuffed with a Venezuelan cheese, don’t be fooled by the word fried, these Tequenos are light and very tasty on their own or with that special cilantro garlic mayo I spoke about earlier.
If you want something sweet, this truck will hook you up. I had a traditional Alfajores. This sweet cookie that is a well-known Christmas Cookie around Latin America is a large shortbread cookie, but inside its laced with sweet Dulce de Leche. Then around the outside the arepa Republic has coated this cookie with coconut. It’s a delectable treat.
I throughly enjoyed this Food Truck, it was different. I can say I may even be Spanglish now. The arepa Republic has taken their Venezuelan roots and are now sharing their cuisine with Canada. If you see this truck around town, make sure you yell out DETENER! That means STOP! in Spanish and get some Venezuelan culture around your lips.
Gracias!
