Does Bland Equal Bad?
Venezuelan cooking is less well-known than that of its neighbor Colombia, though it shares snacks like arepas flat masa cakes that can be either sweet or savory. The arepa section of the menu deploys them like slices of white bread to make sandwiches ($3.50 each) stuffed with cheese, shredded beef, scrambled eggs, and salads heavy with mayo. Much better and I didn’t find them till a Venezuelan friend pointed them out are the arepitas ($2.75), miniature fried arepas with a fluffy white interior, brought to the table steaming and furnished with a tart dipping sauce something like thin sour cream. Also estimable are tequeños, little cones of puff pastry loaded with oozy white cheese. To enjoy them fully, ask for picante, and receive two jars of sauce one green and milk-laced, like the Peruvian hot sauce served at the rotisserie chicken joints, the other yellow and considered super-hot by Venezuelan standards. We used up most of both jars without breaking a sweat. While Latin cooking has l
