Carrión de los Condes (Palencia), (EFE).- They say that in Venezuela all children are born with an arepa under their arms.
It is possible to understand, then, what this pre-Columbian product means for the Latin American country, whose origin is disputed with neighboring Colombia.
And the difficulties that Venezuelans have to earn their bread, or rather, the arepa, are also well known.
Four years ago the Venezuelan chef Luis Ascanio grabbed the arepa and arrived in Spain
Four years ago, the Venezuelan chef Luis Ascanio did not think twice, he “grabbed” the arepa and traveled to Spain.
“I was looking for a way to get out of there, I felt that the freedoms of the individual were ending,” he explained to EFE without wanting to delve further into the situation of the Latin American country.
The already difficult adaptation of a migrant to a new society worsened for him when he ran into the covid pandemic almost upon arrival.
Although he found the mountain of Montserrat, in Barcelona, as an ally, which served as a place to go out once the confinement measures were relaxed.
Luis does not doubt it: “To be an emigrant is to be born again.”
New opportunity in Carrión de los Condes (Palencia)
That new life gave him the opportunity to start a new stage in Carrión de los Condes (Palencia), in the heart of Spain’s breadbasket and one of the cradles of the best bread.
There he has been able to get to know the traditional cuisine of the Castilian towns and many of their curiosities, in the restaurants of San Zoilo and La Corte.
And at that moment, a world of ideas opened up in Luis’s mind with a single goal: to combine the best of Venezuelan culinary tradition with Castilian cuisine.
Since last October, his only concern has been to train for the time to start his project, for which he has chosen an establishment of a lifetime, La Taberna del Peregrino.
Arepa with jijas, black pudding or parakeet paste
For a little over two months, people from Carrion, pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago and tourists have already been enjoying the arepa with jijas, the arepa with blood sausage paste or the arepa with perico -a stir-fry with oregano and egg-.
In short, a true symbol of how life improves when you know how to choose and combine ‘the best of each house’.
The establishment opens every day at six in the morning, aware of the service it can provide to pilgrims who, especially in summer, start a new stage from Carrión de los Condes, one of the almost obligatory stops on the Camino de Santiago.
The erepa gives energy for four hours
The arepa, explains Luis, “gives you energy for four hours,” so he recommends taking it in the morning or at noon, in any of the varieties offered by La Taberna del Peregrino.
But the client will also find other tapas and portions in which he can find “combinations on the same plate” of traditional and new flavors, which makes his kitchen an “evolved tradition”.
“It’s not something for every day”, admits the chef himself, aware that the combinations on the same plate usually provide a high energy and caloric load, so he also tries to contribute to his creations “less carbohydrates and more vegetables and proteins”.
‘Poor man’s pâté’, ‘Escalivada with chicken thigh or pork shoulder’ or ‘Cream of roasted aubergine in bread slices’ are some of the most popular ideas in Luis’s catalogue.
And the end of a story, which always likes to be happy, tells of a family united around a life project, to which their two children, their mother and close friends have been able to join.
A family team that also spreads happiness among those who, even occasionally, participate in it as ‘livers’ of the experience. EFE