Halloumi, refried beans, fresh salsa and avocado are stuffed inside a deliciously moreish fried Colombian arepas, made from masarepas flour, cheese and butter. South American cuisine doesn’t get much better than this!
Country Number 37: Colombia
Buenos días and welcome to country numero 37, Colombia! Colombia is a large country situated at the northern tip of South America. It has a large coastal border and a largely mountainous terrain. Colombia’s name derives from Christopher Columbus (would you ever have guessed?!). It is heavily influenced by its Spanish colonisation, and its population is largely mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish descent), although it has large African and European minorities.
Colombia has a few standout features you might already know about. Firstly, Colombia possesses a colourful and diverse culture. This is in part because of its varying terrain, with the country’s interior abounding with snowy cordilleras, savannas and forests. Some of the country’s indigenous population still inhabit these regions. The modern cities are found mostly at mid-level elevation, and the low-elevation Atlantic-bordering lands are filled with livestock haciendas with a varying population. The varying culture is also due to the mixed indigenous, African, and European heritage. Secondly, Colombia has the world’s second-fastest growing economy behind China. This is in part due to its high level of petroleum and coal, as well as exports in technology and electronics. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Colombia has bestowed us with Shakira, a true gift to the world. As we all know, those hips don’t lie.
History of Colombian Cuisine
Due to its varying terrain, Colombian cuisine changes a lot depending on the area. It shares a lot of similar staples with its South American neighbours including cereals, potatoes and cassava, legumes, a wealth of fresh fruit, meat, and seafood. Strong Spanish and indigenous influences impact the cuisine, and the African slaves brought across by the Spanish also imparted an African influence. Most meals incorporate rice, beans and meat, and soups are also very popular.
Popular Colombian Vegetarian Dishes
- Patacones – twice fried plantains served as a side to many dishes.
- Empanadas – deep-fried pastry pockets stuffed with vegetables, potatoes, cheese, or eggs (meat ones are also common).
- Arepas – corn-meal based pockets stuffed with a variety of toppings.
- Postre de Natas – a dessert made of boiled foamy milk, eggs, raisins and rum.
- Obleas – giant round wafers stuffed with various sweet toppings (including arequipe, the Colombian dulce de leche) served by street stalls.
- Salpicon de Frutas – a sweetened fruit salad/cocktail.
Vegetarian rating of Colombian Cuisine:
Making Colombian Arepas with Halloumi, Avocado & Refried Beans
Arepas come together pretty quickly. Basically, the number of fillings you want determines how long it will take you. It requires you to make an easy dough (which doesn’t need any rising time), which you roll out, shape and then griddle-fry. While you’re making the arepas you can cook up or prepare the fillings so that it is all ready to serve at the same time. For stuffing the arepas, we selected a cosmopoliatan variety of fillings (which are not all typically of Colombian origin). We fried up some halloumi, made aji (salsa), sliced up some avo and refried some beans with which to stuff it.
I would recommend making up and shaping the arepas dough first, followed by preparing the aji and cooking up the refried beans, and when you are ready to serve, frying up the arepas and halloumi at the same time to keep them both hot and gloriously crispy.
How to make Colombian Arepas
Once you’ve made the dough, it won’t take long to whip up this truly delicious meal!
- Make arepas dough by mixing corn meal, water, mozzarella cheese, butter and salt together in a bowl. Knead until soft, then smooth into a ball, place between two sheets of baking paper, and roll to 1cm thickness. Cut into circles using a glass.
- Make aji by chopping up and combining tomatoes, an onion, and fresh coriander. Toss in lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Make refried beans by frying onion in an oiled pan at medium heat before adding garlic, kidney beans, chilli powder, and seasoning. After cooking for a couple more minutes, transfer to blender, pulse until chunky, then return to pan and refry for another 5 minutes.
- Cook arepas by frying each circle on a greased griddle or frying pan on a medium heat until golden, between 3 and 5 minutes per side.
- Cut halloumi into slithers and fry in a greased pan on medium-high heat until crispy and browned, around 1 minute per side.
- Slice up an avocado, and slice arepas in half, and fill with various toppings. Enjoy!
Ingredient notes for Arepas
- Masarepas flour- It’s absolutely essential you get the right flour to make arepas. Regular cornmeal won’t work (if you want to know more about the differences, take a look at this article). Masarepas generally can’t be found in a normal supermarket. We purchase ours from our local Argentinian store, so you might need to seek out a specialty store in your area or purchase the flour online. Brands to look for include Harina PAN, Areparina, Harina Juana, and Goya.
- Cheese/butter – omit cheese and substitute butter with a dairy-free alternative to make vegan.
Serving suggestions for Arepas
Obviously, what you stuff your arepas with is up to you. We loved the combination of this recipe provided by the juiciness of the halloumi, the freshness of the pico de gallo, and the heartiness of the refried beans. However, feel free to include various other toppings including eggs, guacamole, black beans, kumara, or even pulled jackfruit.
Other South American dishes to try
Colombian Arepas with Halloumi, Avocado & Refried Beans
INGREDIENTS
AREPAS
- 2 cup warm water
- 2 cup masarepas flour
- 2 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
SALSA (AJI)
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
- 1/2 red onion (diced)
- 2 limes (juiced)
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
REFRIED BEANS
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 white onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tin of kidney beans
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- Salt & pepper (to taste)
TO TOP
- Sliced avocado
- Fried halloumi
- Salsa (pico de gallo)
- Refried beans
Instructions
Make Arepas:
- Mix water, flour, mozzarella, butter and salt together in a bowl. Knead until soft. Roll into ball, place between two sheets of baking paper, and roll until 1cm thick. Cut into circles using a glass.
Make Salsa:
- Toss tomatoes, onion and coriander together. Squeeze over lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
Make Refried Beans:
- Sauté onion in oil on a frying pan over medium heat until soft, around 5 minutes. Add in garlic, kidney beans, chilli powder and seasoning. Cook for a further two minutes, then transfer to a blender. Pulse until a chunky consistency, then return to pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Compile Arepas:
- Fry arepas on a greased griddle pan or regular frying pan on a medium heat until golden on each side, between 3 and 5 minutes. In a separate pan, fry sliced up halloumi at a medium-high heat until crispy and browned on each side, around 1 minute.
- Once everything is cooked, slice arepas in half horizontally and stuff with various toppings. Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? We’d love to know! Tell us how it went in the comments below or tag us (@gourmetvegetarians) in your photos on Instagram.
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As a Colombian-American, I was very excited to see this recipe. You lost me the moment you added the first two standout features that we “already know about”. As far as language purity goes, the statement is rooted in a complete erasure of the multiple regional dialects spoken by indigenous and Afro-Colombian people throughout the country. They don’t speak “unpure” versions of Spanish. Just differently and not completely in line with how the colonialists wanted/forced them to speak. Secondly, the history of the cocaine problem is incredibly painful to so many of us that without a full contextualization in an article, mentioning it has no place in a piece about food regardless of whether it’s unfortunately one of the only things outsiders know about Colombia. It only reinforces negative stereotypes that so many of us grew up internalizing. I totally appreciate that part of the goal of this website is to expose readers to do many beautiful cultures and cuisines from around the world. And I hope it can be done without sharing negative aspects of the countries. I also wouldn’t want to completely erase the hardships either. Maybe share links of where to get better informed about the countries if your going to put hardships otherwise it becomes borderline appropriation.
Having said that, arepas are a huge part of my food life. I’ll make them for myself a couple times a month and my non-Colombian friends absolutely love them too when I make them (such an easy brunch meal). For the salsa, i also add scallions (long green onions in case those are available locally in NZ). And for those who like their salsas less chunky: put a few Xs on the skin of the tomatoes with a knife (not too deep) and place in boiling water for a couple of minutes (or until you see the skin begin to lift) and take out and cool with cold water. Peel the skin off and knife away until the tomatoes seem more pureed than chopped. This is the way my aunt’s in Colombia have taught me. Add some heat to taste (red hot sauce or finely chopped hot green peppers/jalapeños depending on what’s available locally) and a splash of vinegar. Lastly, don’t be afraid of making the arepas by hand! There are plenty of youtube videos that demonstrate.
Hi Javier,
Thank you very much for your thoughtful and informative feedback. We are truly sorry if our post was offensive, it was never our intention! Honestly, we source our information from a few different websites, and so the key facts we drew on were just reiterations of these. Regarding the ‘language purity’, this wasn’t in any way intending to imply that any derivation of Spanish that isn’t as close to that which was spoken centuries ago is lesser in form; I mean, it’s not like people are lauded for speaking Shakespearean English today. It’s simply what we thought was an interesting fact about the language. Regarding the reference to cocaine, we have been trying to incorporate both positives and negatives of a country in our posts (when we get to New Zealand, for instance, I might address some of our own systemic social issues). However, I understand from what you said that this is a painful topic for Colombians, and as such, it doesn’t need to be appearing everywhere, and as you say, ‘reinforcing the stereotype’ when you are just trying to read a food article. As such, we have amended the beginning of the article to remove both of these facts.
Regarding the arepas, cheers very much for your advice! It’s great to get tips from a local. We absolutely adore arepas, they are divine. Really interesting tip for the salsa too, we’ll definitely try to prepare the tomatoes that way next time. We did really enjoy making them by hand, there is something satisfying about forming food with your hands that elevates the experience.