The perfect arepa: our nightly recipe

Stay with us and sooner or later it's your turn: flour on your hands, the griddle heating up, and half a dozen accents debating whether arepas need salt. These are the hostel's arepa nights — and this is the recipe to take home.

Ingredients (makes ~8 arepas)

• 2 cups of precooked corn flour (white or yellow — look for "masarepa")
• 2 ½ cups of warm water
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of butter (optional, but recommended)
• Grated fresh farmer's cheese — at your discretion and without remorse

Step by step

1. Dissolve the salt in the warm water.
2. Add the flour little by little while mixing with your hand. Knead for 3–5 minutes until you get a smooth dough that neither sticks nor cracks.
3. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Everyone skips this step, and it's the secret to the texture.
4. Form balls the size of a mandarin and flatten them to ~1 cm thick, smoothing the edges with wet fingers.
5. Cook on a dry griddle or pan over medium heat, 7–8 minutes per side, until golden freckles appear and the arepa sounds hollow when tapped.
6. Slice it open, stuff it with cheese, and return it to the griddle for one more minute.

House tricks

• If the dough cracks when shaping, it needs more water: add it by the teaspoon.
• The griddle gets no oil: traditional arepas are dry-roasted.
• Leftovers from yesterday? Cube and fry them: arepa croutons for your soup.

Colombia has over 70 varieties of arepa and every region swears theirs is the true one. At arepa night we've watched Italians, Germans and Japanese defend that honor with equal passion.

Better than the recipe? Making it with us. Ask at reception when the next arepa night is — and book your bed if you're not here yet.