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.

Gustavo Dudamel gets a hot dog named after him!

You know you've made it in Los Angeles when you get a hot dog named after you. Just ask Venezuelan conducter Gustavo Dudamel, the hottest property in classical music at the moment at just 29 years old.

Dudamel, who comes from Barquisimeto, currently spends his time between Sweden, where he is the principal conductor of the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra, and the United States, where he's the musical director of the Los Angeles Philarmonic.

The mop-top conductor has made such a big splash in LA that Pink's, the most famous hot-dog joint in town, has invited him onto its Super Specials menu.

The "L.A. Philarmonic Conductor Gustavo Dudamel Dog" is a mouthful even before you tuck into this "stretch hot dog" covered as it is with guacamole, American and Swiss cheese, fajitas mix, and jalapeno slices topped with tortilla chips.

Family-run hot-dog haven Pink's has been feeding Hollywood stars and A-listers since Paul and Betty Pink first opened a fast-food stand on the corner of La Brea and Melrose in 1939.

Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Snoop Dog, Jay Leno, the Hoff, there are few LA stars who have not popped in to this world famous landmark for a treat, but few are ever offered the chance to appear on the menu.

Dudamel joins a very select group of the hot-dog-honoured elite that includes Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnel and Ozzy Osbourne.

But why go for typical Tex-Mex ingredients, when the folks at Pink's could have made the maestro's dog more Venezuelan?

Where's the salsa rosada, for example, the unforgettable mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise that you only seem to find in Venezuela?

My last hot dog from a street stall in Caracas was a true work of art, a symphony of crushed potato chips and chopped up cabbage and onions slathered, with a conductor's flourish, in about six different sauces.