Cachapas

Ingredients

• Sweetcorn — kernels from 6-8 cobs800 g
• Soft white cheese300 g
• Milk80 ml
• Sugar1 tbsp
• Butter50 g
• Salt1 tsp

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Cut the kernels from the cobs and blend them with the milk, sugar and salt to a coarse but pourable purée.

   10 min

2. 2

   Let the batter stand ten minutes. The starch swells and the pancakes hold together.

   10 min

3. 3

   Heat a pan to medium, butter it and pour in a ladle of batter, spreading it into a circle a centimetre thick.

   4 min

4. 4

   Cook four minutes, until the edges dry and the underside is mottled, flip and give it three more.

   8 min

5. 5

   Lay butter and cheese on the hot cachapa, fold it over and press it with a spatula.

   3 min

6. 6

   Serve at once. A cooled cachapa loses its softness and turns into a dense cake.

   2 min

About the dish

There is no flour in the batter: fresh kernels are ground to a coarse purée and their own starch binds it. That is why the corn has to be young and juicy.

The cheese goes into the hot cachapa and it is folded over. It should melt without running: queso de mano, mozzarella or a young brined cheese all work.

They are cooked on a budare, a flat cast-iron plate. A crêpe pan does the same job: what matters is a steady medium heat, since on a high one the corn sugar burns before the middle sets.

Worth knowing

• — Frozen corn works, but it holds more water — in that case skip the milk entirely.
• — Fix a runny batter with a spoon of cornflour rather than flour: flour makes it taste of bread.
• — On the street they come with nata, thick salted cream. At home soured cream with a pinch of salt stands in for it.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

430 kcal

Protein

16 g

Fat

20 g

Carbs

48 g

More from Venezuela

• Pabellón criollo — A plate in four parts: shredded stewed beef, black beans, white rice and fried plantain.