Fried and grilled
Cachapa
A sweet fresh-corn pancake from Venezuela, folded over thick slices of soft queso de mano.
A cachapa is a thick pancake made from fresh corn kernels ground with a little sugar, salt and milk, cooked on a griddle until golden. It is served folded around slices of queso de mano, a soft, mild white cheese that melts slightly from the heat of the corn. Cachapas are sold at roadside stalls across Venezuela.
What goes in
- Queso de mano531%, Thick slices.
- Fresh corn kernels744%, Ground to a batter.
- Milk213%, Loosens the batter.
- Sugar and salt16%, Seasoning.
- Butter16%, On the griddle and on top.
Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.
Step 1: Knead Grind the fresh corn kernels with milk, sugar and salt to a thick batter. Step 2: Fry Pour rounds onto a hot buttered griddle. Step 3: Fry Cook until golden underneath, then turn and cook the other side. Step 4: Layer Lay thick slices of queso de mano on top. Step 5: Serve Fold in half and serve hot with butter. Finished Cachapa, by share.
Fresh corn
Unlike the arepa, which is made from dried and pre-cooked maize, the cachapa uses fresh, young corn, which gives it a sweet taste and a slightly lumpy texture. It is an old Venezuelan food with Indigenous roots. Roadside stands along the highways near Caracas and in the central states are famous for cachapas cooked on large budare griddles.
Queso de mano
Queso de mano, hand cheese, is a soft, fresh, stretched cow's milk cheese, shaped by hand into rounds and kept in banana leaves or bags. It is mild and milky with a slight saltiness. A thick slice is laid on the hot cachapa, which is then folded over. Some stalls add fried pork, ham or a stronger cheese.
Where it is used
The cheeses in it
Also part of it, and being written: Queso de mano (The soft cheese folded inside.).
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.