Authentic Venezuelan corn pancakes, or cachapas, are now available in the centre of London thanks to Elias Dayub, 27, and Daniel Garcia, 28, two enterprising young Caraqueños who have combined a flair for business with a passion and skill for recreating the flavours of their homeland.
Their busy "Sabor Venezolano" ("Venezuelan Flavour") stall is open every Thursday at London's fashionable Covent Garden market, just on the edge of the beautiful cobblestone piazza where buskers, jugglers and street performers entertain the crowds.
The stall lives up to its name with a good selection of tasty Venezuelan staples, such as thick cachapas cooked fresh on a griddle while you wait, and arepas - cornbread buns filled with combinations of carne mechada (shredded beef), caraotas negras (black beans), pollo guisado (stewed chicken) and queso rallado (grated cheese).
The cachapas are reasonably-priced at £5, arepas with a filling at £4, and kilo bags of Harina PAN (the pre-cooked corn flour for making arepas) selling for £2.50.
To really tickle the tastebuds visitors are encouraged to liberally drizzle the fine sauces the boys provide, including a more-ish avocado-based guasacaca and a fiery but flavourful Venezuelan-style picante, or hot sauce.
According to Elias, the idea for the stall came about when they realised that there was nowhere in the UK serving cachapas.
"We have a lot of love and passion for Venezuelan culture and we realized that there was nothing similar to a cachapa available anywhere in the UK so we decided to take a risk," says Elias.
"Thank God it has been so well received by the British public, who are our main customers. The colours and the flavours and the fact that cachapas and arepas are gluten, wheat and dairy free has really caught the attention of many people in Covent Garden," he adds.
As well as the savoury snacks on offer, the boys also sell their own homemade mermelada de guayaba (guava jam) and jalea de mango (a chunky mango jam), made from the finest fresh ingredients.
For details on how to get to Covent Garden, check here:
For information on how to order Venezuelan Christmas food in London, check here:
3 comments:
ayy que buenoooo!!! Muchas gracias por la información :) extrano mucho las cachapas!!!
un gran abrazo!
Me estaba preguntando.. Tienes idea de algun otro lugar donde comer venezolano en Londres? Quesi un buen pabellon, unas empanaditas, unos cachitos.. algo asi. Estoy viviendo aca y ando nostalgica de buena comida veenzolana jajajaja.
Is this stand still open in Covent Garden? I live in Cambridge and there is NO Venezuelan food here!
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