The Venezuelan street food made from ground maize dough that can be grilled or fried and filled with cheese is an arepa.
An arepa is a round, unleavened corn griddlecake made from maize dough. It may be grilled, baked, fried, boiled, or steamed, then split open or topped with fillings such as cheese, meat, avocado, beans, eggs, or seafood. Venezuelan versions often use precooked maize flour, which is mixed with water and salt before being shaped into patties.
Arepas are a pre-Columbian food from northern South America, especially the regions now associated with Venezuela and Colombia. Archaeological evidence points to long-standing maize cultivation and cooking traditions in the area. The word is commonly connected to erepa, a Cumanagoto term for cornbread. In the 1950s, Venezuelan engineer Luis Caballero Mejías developed precooked arepa flour, making home preparation much faster.
Arepas are sometimes confused with pupusas or tamales. Pupusas are Salvadoran stuffed corn cakes, while tamales are typically wrapped and steamed. Unlike either, an arepa is commonly cooked as an open griddlecake and filled afterward.