Cachapa is a traditional Venezuelan pancake made with ground fresh corn, sugar, oil, and a liquid ingredient. It can be grilled on a budare or heavy skillet and is often filled with soft, creamy white cheese or savory meat. It is a popular roadside snack.
Regional variations of pancakes exist around the world, and cachapa refers to a traditional Venezuelan version. Corn is a major domestic food crop in Venezuela, and the region has a variety of dishes that make corn a featured ingredient or a star. Cachapa makes use of this staple crop by grinding fresh corn to create a rich corn cake that is notable for its sweet, creamy corn flavor.
In addition to ground corn, typical cachapa pancake batter generally contains sugar, oil, and a liquid ingredient. Usually, this liquid ingredient will be a combination of milk or water. Recipes from outside Venezuela may also add flour or an egg. While fresh corn is preferred, the convenience of canned corn means this prepackaged ingredient is also used quite often to make this dish. If fresh ears of corn are being used, the corn can be peeled off the husk and then pureed in a food processor with the remaining ingredients. The resulting corn batter will usually be thick and heavy, and large chunks of corn will still be visible in the mixture.
Cachapa can be grilled on a budare, a large flat metal skillet. Alternatively, in other regions of the world, the dish may be cooked on a heavy skillet. A small amount of oil can be poured into the bottom of the pan to prevent the pancake from sticking.
After the pan has heated up, a scoop of the batter is poured into the pan and allowed to ooze a bit to the bottom of the pan. A spatula is typically used to press down on the dish as it cooks to ensure even browning. The pancake is flipped after the bubbles begin to appear and then allowed to continue cooking until it is a deep golden brown to indicate it is done.
Once cooked, the cachapa hot pipe is folded and eaten like an omelette. The folded shape of the corncake makes it easily portable, and although the dish is found in formal restaurants, it is extremely popular as a roadside snack snack. Generally, street vendors make the pancake by filling it with a soft, creamy white cheese; a savory meat such as chicken, ham or beef can also be stuffed inside the turnover. Butter or margarine can be served on the side for pouring over the dish.
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