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By Maximiliano D'Onofrio
Irena Stein left Venezuela in 1980 to move to the United States. And although the restaurateur’s work has always been linked to her roots, the recent massive exodus of Venezuelans led her to write Arepa, a deep recipe book about this culinary item that, according to her, will undergo massive expansion in the coming years.
Political and socioeconomic conditions caused around 7 million people to emigrate from Venezuela during the last two decades. And as in every migratory movement, those who leave their land take their cultural traits with them.
The movement awakened in Stein the need to contribute her knowledge so that "every Venezuelan who is out there, trying to find P.A.N. flour, has access to a beautiful catalog of recipes about this food, the daily bread of Venezuela."
Irena Stein
Stein, owner of Alma Cocina Latina in Baltimore, highlights two issues regarding her country of origin: the overwhelming number of emigrants will have a deep impact on the spread of arepas around the planet and, in turn, they will find in the production of this food a first step for generating income.
“Thousands of excellent Venezuelan chefs have begun spreading this food around the world, and I honestly believe that arepas are the new taco, which for some time now has been globally adopted,” she says. “That is why the book is written in English. The P.A.N. flour now is sold in 90 countries, it’s crazy.”
Stein started her book (which is available for early order and will come out on July 18) in 2018. She met Eduardo Egui, the chef who created the arepas in the book, in Barcelona, and they traveled to her native country to collect information, recipes, take pictures and start this "fair and beautiful tribute."
“The book has 50 recipes, from easy to more elaborate,” she explains. “It includes our philosophy and is dedicated to those refugee migrants all over the world who settle in new cultures. The arepas are a cultural symbol of ours and recently they are also becoming part of haute cuisine.”
“It is an invitation for people to make arepas at home, with their family and with whatever they have in the fridge. It is the house of the Venezuelan entering everyone's house. It is an economical and very versatile meal, since you can put anything on it and it will always be delicious.”
She points out that the purpose of her current restaurant has been to delve into the culinary richness of that part of the globe. Her next venture – Candela Arepa Bar, which is opening in the fall – will further that goal.
“It will be a beautiful, Caribbean place, based on the recipes in the book. Every week there will be a special arepa. There will be vegetarian arepas, vegan arepas, meat arepas. And it will be located in the Station North Art District, a place with cinema, theater, symphony, nightclubs, close to the University of Baltimore. It is the perfect place for the arepa, because it can be eaten at any time and under any circumstances,” she maintains.
Stein's Venezuelan blood and the intrinsic values of her culture have remained unchanged during her years in the United States, as well as the principles that foods like the arepa embody: “They are democratic, simple. It doesn't matter if you're in a suit or whoever you are, and that's what I want; the reader of my book is someone who wants to enjoy the flavors and nothing else.”
Maximiliano D'Onofrio is a regular contributor to el Restaurante.