Arepas arrive in London's hipster-haven Brick Lane

All text and photographs copyright Russell Maddicks
Follow me on Twitter: @venezuelaguide

It's only fitting that one of East London's trendiest hipster hangouts now has a food truck selling this year's hottest new street food: arepas.

In Venezuela and Colombia these fluffy corn-dough pockets are stuffed with tasty savoury fillings like beef, chicken and cheese to make snacks you can eat anytime of the day.

Now Venezuelan expat Giacomo Tomaselli and his Polish partner Inga have brought their own twist on classic arepa recipes to the Brick Lane area.

It's not hard to find them: a massive sign announces "Arepa: Venezuelan Street Kitchen" and some very tropical multicoloured stripes decorate their shiny black Arepazos Bros food truck in Ely's Yard. This otherwise unremarkable car park round the back of the Old Truman Brewery (E1 6QL) comes alive from midday as the food trucks open up and the area fills with diners taking a break from browsing the market stalls, pop-up art galleries, vintage clothes shops, and racks of vinyl in the Rough Trade indie record store.

The menu features a choice of three arepa fillings: the traditional pabellon (shredded beef or chicken with plantain, black beans and cheese), the vegetarian domino (black beans, grated cheese, pico de gallo, and guacamole), and the Peruvian inspired ceviche (fish marinated in lemon juice).

Giacomo explained that after much experimentation he had decided to add a fresh-tasting Mexican-style pico de gallo sauce to his arepas made from roughly-chopped tomato, onion, and coriander.

He also serves a thick avocado guacamole, rather than the runnier Venezuelan sauce known as guasacaca.

The day I went I had the pabellon. The shredded beef was just right, the guacamole was thick and creamy, and the plantain fries were crispy.

A set of benches in front of the stall offers covered seating for customers. Five other food trucks sell a variety of burgers, chicken and pulled pork if there's somebody in your party who wants an alternative to arepas.

You can even bring your own booze if you want to wash down your arepas with a few cold beers bought from a local corner store (always a great way to save a few pennies).

 

Giacomo is originally from Caraballeda, a town on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela near the capital Caracas. His grandfather ran a famous ice-cream parlour called Helados Tomaselli near the old Macuto Sheraton. The food truck is Giacomo's very own creation, made from an old horse box.

If you come from Liverpool Street Tube station the route takes you past the old Spitalfield's Market and entry to Ely's Yard is from Hanbury Street, or Dray Walk if you're coming from Brick Lane.

 

Once you've eaten your arepas you can check out the Brick Lane clothes market and some of the street art in the area. 

There's at least one Banksy painted on a wall in Brick Lane. The street is famous for its Bangladeshi curry houses, although if you come on a Sunday when the local markets are in full swing, be ready to to wade through the hordes of hipsters in skinny jeans and Doc Martin boots that fill the streets.

Celebrate World Arepa Day in London 15 September

The Guasacaca food stall in London's Acklam Village Market will be serving traditional Venezuelan arepas from 11 am to 6:30 pm on Saturday, 15 September, to celebrate the Arepazo Mundial - World Arepa Day.

On Saturday 15 September Venezuelans around the world will be getting together in an act of gastronomic unity to enjoy the country's most emblematic national dish: the arepa.

In London, the place to be for this culinary celebration is Acklam Village Market (W10), where the folks at the Guasacaca food stall will have a full spread of arepas to delight all tastes.

For those new to the arepa, these disc-shaped cornbread patties are big enough to hold in two hands and can be eaten plain or with butter. More typically, they are opened up like a pocket and stuffed with tasty fillings, such as shredded beef, black beans, grated cheese, avocado and chicken, or any combination that takes your fancy.

The must-try arepa filling they sell at Guasacaca is the Reina Pepiada, a lip-smacking combination of shredded chicken, mashed avocado, mayonnaise and peas.

Not surprisingly for Venezuela - famous for the stunning beauty of its lady folk - the Reina Pepiada is named after local lovely Susana Dujim, who won Miss World in 1955.

The Reina Pepiada is popular with Venezuelan party-goers who like to end a big night out with something sticky, savoury and filling (a sort of South American version of the donor kebab).

But whatever filling you try, don't forget to add the final flourish, a dollop of tasty guasaca sauce, made with avocados, or a spicy splash of picante hot sauce.

All arepas cost £5 and you can mix and match any of the fillings on the menu.

For the young Venezuelans who run the stall, David Gutierrez, Irua Dugarte, Andrea Villalba and Andres Gonzalez, the Arepazo Mundial is an excellent opportunity to spread the word about Venezuelan food and convert more people to the flavours of their homeland.

Acklam Village Market (W10 5TY) is one of the coolest street food markets in London, a place to feed your face after a morning browsing the antique stalls and shops of Portobello Road.

The market has a laid back bar with tables and sofas where you can sip a beer and listen to live music while tucking into the international street food on offer from the various stalls.

How to get there: Take the Tube to Ladbroke Grove on the Hammersmith and City or Circle Lines and then cross the street and walk straight on until you get to the market entrance. Alternatively go to Notting Hill Gate on the Central Line and make your way down Portobello Road to Acklam Road.