EVANSVILLE – Watch out, lovers of exotic and Latin foods − we now have a sleek, black Venezuelan food truck on the streets called Arepasville , selling favorite dishes such as arepas, patacones, tequeños and Venezuelan chicha. Read on for explanations.
About the Arepasville food truck in Evansville
The Rios family − father Francisco, wife Virginia, son Jose, and daughters Francheska and Fabiana − together run the truck, which operates on weekends only.
The family has been in Evansville for more than 10 years, has witnessed the bloominginterest in authentic Latin food blooming, and decided that the time was ripe to offer Evansville diners a taste of their Venezuelan food.
“We’ve always cooked together,” said Fabiana Rios. “We would do the HOLA Fest at Bosse Field, and festivals for Latin Heritage Month and at our church. We’ve always made our food to try to bring people into Venezuelan culture. Everyone really likes my mom’s food so we thought it would be a good idea to start a business.”
“We’re always thinking about serving people, and when we do the festivals it’s only for one day and people are saying that they’d like us to do the food once a month. I’m working at Toyota, but I have the truck for the weekends and the festivals and now people can try more of the Venezuelan food.”
Venezuelan food
While doughs made of cornmeal are an important part of Venezuelan cuisine, that’s where the comparison with tacos and gorditas ends. The cornmeal used in Venezuela is very different from that used in Mexico. Mexican masa harina used for tamales, tortillas and so forth is made from dried corn that has had the hull removed by soaking in a lime solution (this is called nixtamalization, and it’s also how hominy is made). It has a strong corn flavor and specific texture due to the lime treatment.
In Venezuela, the cornmeal is very finely ground from pre-cooked corn. It’s called masarepa and is used to make arepas, empanada shells and other traditional dishes. It is fluffy, drier in texture after cooking and has a mild flavor.
Spicy salsas and chiles don’t feature much in Venezuelan food. Sauces tend to be mild and based on creamy mayonnaise, avocado and herbs. Casual foods may be topped with a drizzle of ketchup and mustard.
The homemade salsa verde from Arepasville is a family recipe. “Verde” means green, but the sauce is pale, made of mayonnaise flavored with garlic, cilantro and other goodness.
Venezuela is on the northwest coast of South America and bananas and plantains play a large part in the cuisine. Instead of corn arepas, patacones are “sandwiches” made between large smashed slices of fried plantain banana, which are starchy with a slightly sweet taste.
On the menu at Arepasville
Appetizers
Tequeños - Cheese sticks wrapped in spirals of dough, fried, and served with the house salsa verde.
Empanadas – Hand pies of white corn dough are filled with your choice of shredded chicken or beef, folded and fried until crisp and puffy. They are sold in threes and served with salsa verde.
Arepas
Arepas - Arepas are thick, tender disks of white corn dough griddled until fluffy in the middle and crisp on the exterior, split and filled with your choice of beef, chicken or slow-roasted pork; lettuce, tomato, cheese and salsa verde.
The Full Arepa - A diced arepa topped with shredded meat, veggies, ham, bacon, boiled egg, green sauce, pico de gallo, red sauce, yellow sauce, and cheese.
The Tumbarrancho - “Destroy the House” arepa is filled with bologna with your choice of other meat optional, cheese, cabbage, tomato, sauces and cheese on a special fried arepa.
Patacones
These “sandwiches” are made between slices of fried plantain bananas. The filling is your choice of meat, with toppings of pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, ham, bacon, cheese, and green, red and yellow sauces.
Venezuelan chicha
If you’ve had the pretty, dark purple, juicy, pineapple-and-cinnamon-scented chicha at local Peruvian restaurants – this is absolutely not that. Velezuelan chicha has more in common with Mexican horchata, but on steroids. The rice is cooked and blended with milk, vanilla, and sugar to a thick, sweet almost puddinglike consistency, then served over ice topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. You get a straw with it, but you might need to start with a spoon. It’s like a drink and a dessert in one.
To find the Arepasville truck, watch the family's Facebook page for times and locations of service.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Here's what's on the menu at a new Venezuelan food truck in Evansville
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